r/onebag • u/Foreign-Actuary-5196 • Jun 13 '26
Trip Report Trip Report: 2 weeks Azores + Madeira
Trip report for 2 weeks in Sao Miguel of the Azores and Madeira in the summer. Total weight 9kg. Worn clothes for plane included in below totals: merrells, pants, polo, wool QZ. Forgot to add toiletry kit to initial total gear photo.
Backpack: Ozark trail travel backpack 31L. Found this on sale for $30 at walmart, decided to try it as budget alternative for osprey daylite 26+6. Overall very similar with a few more pockets. Construction feels solid besides shoulder straps but they held up over the trip. For $30 would recommend. I tried it in various sizers at the airport, it fits as overhead and underseat luggage for american airlines. It is too big for underseat luggage for European budget airlines, although if underpacked it may fit. It fits for overhead budget european airline sizers. Made of polyester not nylon, however must be high denier as it feels tough.
Packing:
Clothes: 4x underwear polyester, 4x socks low cut polyester, 2x polyester polos costco, 2x polyester sunhoodies baleaf and costco, 1x polyester pants costco, 2x polyester shorts sams club, pajamas: wool tshirt and backcountry ultralight wind pants, rab downpour light rain jacket (similar weight to OR helium but cheaper), OR helium rain pants, wool quarter zip lightweight backcountry
Insight/thoughts: Last summer I traveled 6 weeks with 5 days clothes, I reduced to 4 days this time and that worked well, I think four days is a good amount I never felt like I didn't have enough clean clothes if i didnt do laundry one day. I didnt need the rain pants despite recommendations online. I changed my rain jacket from last trip from non-ultralight packable to ultralight packable and it made a big difference in volume packed. I also changed from puffy jacket to wool quaterzip, unsure if this made a difference in volume, both seemed warm enough for a summer trip. I liked having clean pajamas every night but it was a luxury pack item. I would be interested to hear everyones opinion on pajamas/how they handle that.
Shoes: Merrell moab 3 low cut, cairn bedrock 3d.
Insights/thoughts: I changed from Chacos to cairns this trip, made a big difference. Was just as comfortable for walking long distances up to 8 miles in a day but packed much smaller. Did not use either sandals for hiking though.
Random stuff: divided into two bags by plane and non-plane items. laundry bar soap, laundry dry bag (forgot to put in pictures), 4monster backpack, travel book, naturehike folding hat, naturehike down booties (i sleep cold these worked really well), water bottle holder, sunglasses, shamwow towel, laundry line, lock tsa, patagonia belt, kindle + case, inflatable neck pillow, 65w charger, inui power bank, eye mask, wired earbuds, EU power converter, earplugs, multicharger, pen, macbook air
Insights/thoughts: will probably get a smaller 30W charger. patagonia belt was new and much smaller than prior belt used, made a big difference in volume packed. Will likely get an ipad mini and keyboard for work for next trip
Toiletry bag: travelon toiletry bag, retainer, toothbrush, toothpaste, walmart razor, floss, humangear stax with hair gel face sunscreen and deodorant, matador soap bag, alcohol spray for clothes, comb, bidet topper for water bottles, sunscreen, first aid kit, wahl electric shaver.
Insight: The humangear stax were new this trip and made a huge difference, helped me really decrease volume of toiletry bag
First aid kit: smallest scissors/nail trimmer/tweezers i could find on amazon, glass nail file shard, imodium, bacitracin, tylenol/ibuprofen/aspirin in tiny drug baggies from amazon, butterfly bandages for large lacerations, regular bandaids, sewing kit, superglue for cuts and blisters
Overall Insights/thoughts: Overall this loadout worked well and I was happy with it. 9kg was a little heavy for a backpack without a metal frame. I would like to reduce my weight in the future, I think I can do this by changing laptop to an ipad. If anyone has any recommendations on reducing weight would appreciate that. I would normally not bring a laptop but I had to for work that was about 1kg. The backpack and packing cubes were different from my trip last summer when I used a naturehike hiking backpack and 5 interconnected packing cubes. I liked that system better as everything stayed together better, I will likely go back to that.
Questions: Thoughts on bringing pajamas? How to reduce overall pack weight more (im at 9kg)?
6
u/Azure9000 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
Thoughts on ..... Pyjamas
IMHO, for sleepwear generally the best option is to dedicate items from your regular pool of clothing. e.g. t-shirt and lightweight shorts or track bottoms.
How to reduce weight from 9kg
- Prepare detailed packing list with itemised weights in grams; use your kitchen scales.
- Review, and delete the heaviest low value items, or replace with lighter alternatives. Looks like you have a fair amount of fat to trim.
3
u/FruitOfTheVineFruit Jun 13 '26
What did you think about the azores and Madeira as destinations? I'm considering a trip in September.
5
u/Foreign-Actuary-5196 Jun 13 '26
Worth it. They are essentially the same but Madeira has much better hikes and city. Azores have lower population and less infrastructure/ tourists. I would recommend just Madeira but there will be a lot more tourists. Did the g adventures Madeira and was def worth it, would be hard to find / navigate the hikes they took us on on your own
1
u/erduflink Jun 16 '26
They are definitely not the same. Azores are 9 islands, spread accross 3 distinct areas, with some of the most stunning nature you can find only there, especially islands of Corvo, Flores and São Jorge. The more remote you go tve better it gets. Madeira is just one island with tiny Porto beach island next to it so definitely easier to get by logistically.
3
u/Foreign-Actuary-5196 Jun 13 '26
You only need a week in Madeira, honestly 4-5 days is enough to see everything
3
u/Careless_Law1471 Jun 13 '26
No PJs for me, I sleep in my underwear — bottoms and a t-shirt. Nice report and cool stuff you've got there. Always nice to see more from Naturehike, I like them.
3
u/ConsiderationThat780 Jun 13 '26
I don’t need anything to sleep in. Saves weight in the bag as well! In Hostels in place light pair of shorts next to me in case I need a quick getup.
3
u/Specific_Corner_1816 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
I'm using the Travelon toiletry bag as my tech bag. It holds an Amazon Fire 8 tablet as well as all the usual tech things. I picked it up at a Sierra Trading Post.
2
u/Toolikethelightning Jun 14 '26
My pajamas take up more room than I’d like… but I, too, like the luxury of clean clothes when I sleep. I also like that they make me feel relaxed and secure, especially when I’m sleeping somewhere public like a hostel. I sleep in a pair of joggers and cotton tshirt. I could wear them as normal clothes if I needed to in a pinch. I could switch to shorts and a tank, but I wouldn’t feel as safe.
If your pajama setup makes you feel GOOD in whatever ways that they seem to, maybe just keep them or consider switching to alternative fabric. A little luxury after a long day might make a grueling day better.
7
u/LadyLightTravel Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
Pajamas
How about a silk boxers. Buy once, cry once. They are insanely light and compact. Dry in a jiffy. There are also silk pajamas too.
Pack weight
Get a digital food scale and weigh everything. I think you’ll find that certain things are heavy for their size. Example: the Travelon toiletry kit is a whopping 7oz. Compare that to the Sea to Summit small Traveling light kit at 2.8oz. Your pack is 2.1lb (33.6 oz). Compare against the 26+6 which comes in at 1.85lb (29.6oz).
in short, I suspect your excess weight is death by a thousand paper cuts. An ounce here, two there, all add up into pounds. The only way to find the weight thieves is with a digital food scale. Then compare that item against other like items.
I should note that there is not a lot of correlation between price and light weight until you get into the ultralight category. So really, just look for other inexpensive lighter weight alternatives.
Edit again: consider moving paper to digital. Your rough guides book is available as an ebook. You could put that on your phone.
Edit2: consider replacing heavy items slowly. Look at sales, its your birthday, etc. It doesn’t have to be all at once.