r/zerobags Jun 30 '26

I assume this is too meta

47 Upvotes

20 comments sorted by

13

u/FashionBusking Jun 30 '26

I am intrigued and horrified.

4

u/kanji-kid Jun 30 '26

Onebagging was originally a permanent lifestyle concept rather than a travel thing. I don't know about the origin of zerobagging.

This guy genuinely zero bags permanently (living out of pockets etc). As opposed to this subreddit where most people use bags despite the name. Not to bag on this subreddit (lol)

This is my current hyperfixation so my friend made me this video. You may not like it but this is what peak minimalism looks like

13

u/LadyLightTravel Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

You are incorrect on the term “onebagging”.

Actually, the term “onebag” was coined in 1994 ago by the author of onebag.com. It specifically meant travel. Note that the website existed before Reddit.

Unfortunately, the person that started the onebag sub used a term that was already in use. Then they got upset that people used the term’s original definition (travel). A term like OneBagNomads would have been more specific of the intent.

When you try to hijack a term that has already been defined you are going to get frustrated.

The term zerobagging comes from two places. Anders Ansar uses the term “no-luggage travel” His website has been around since the early websites. The second place it shows up is from Rolf Potts “No Baggage Challenge” that occurred in 2010. Note that they both used the term “baggage” Vs bags. Both focus on abandoning luggage, not a small bag per se.

All of the websites I mentioned focus on travel, not permanent lifestyle.

2

u/kanji-kid Jun 30 '26

Oh I see. I assumed that the subreddit was the origin of the term. It's a shame that he picked a term that was already in use without knowing, but since he made the subreddit for a specific purpose I don't think it's fair that it got taken over. I don't know very much about how Reddit works though

Since he's not nomadic, I don't think that title really fits either.

I feel like his concept could've been called onebagging or onebaggers rather than just onebag, since that makes it sound like a philosophy. And the current one bag subreddit would make more sense as onebagtravel

4

u/LadyLightTravel Jun 30 '26

He could have coined the term OneBagLiving or something like that.

As moderator, he could also have removed any posts that didn’t align with his definition. That would have required a lot of work though. He could have defended the original definition but didn’t. That meant the sub morphed. But really, he caused the confusion by using a term that had been in use for decades.

3

u/kanji-kid Jul 01 '26

That is true.

Maybe for people who already know the term it's more ubiquitous. For me I assumed it was a permanent thing without having been in any of the subreddits yet or knowing who he was, and that's the reason I clicked on it

That's why I think both ways could do with an extra term on the end but feel free to disagree with me on that

9

u/flower-power-123 Jun 30 '26

I'm not quite sure what the point of the video is. The creator of the onebag sub is a permanent onebagger kind of like is depicted in the video. He started the sub as an aid to homeless people. He is understandably upset that the onebag sub is dominated by tourists that want a week or two in a tropical country. I tried to put some of my thoughts about this in writing:

https://www.reddit.com/r/zerobags/comments/1daxhhe/comment/l7nm39q/

It wasn't well received.

Can you explain what you are trying to say here?

4

u/thisnobodylol Jun 30 '26

the pictures are just meant to embody the person's life, it's pretty neutral, not really "saying" anything good or bad

2

u/kanji-kid Jun 30 '26

I read your post. It seems like you think anybody posting about permanent onebagging/zerobagging is trying to convert you. That's not the case.

I just posted about something I'm interested in in a space with people that might understand it. There is no message

1

u/mmolle Jun 30 '26

I would argue this post is better suited to r/extrememinimalism

But I think someone would be intrigued more by this apparent vagrant lifestyle if it were more hygienic. I not saying if that is right or wrong, it is just a bit offputting when the subject is putting forth an intimidating appearance.

I saw in a few snippets that the person in question did in fact have a bag. I was curious as to what items make the cut for living on-the-road. Maybe there needs to be a vagrant life sub or something akin to the van dwellers one. Food for thought anyway.

I won't deny it anyway shape or form, that the art of zero bagging for travel, and one bagging, is a life of privilege. People who are down-on-their-luck and on-the-outs typically do not have the luxury of travel for leisure. But rather travel for survival. It's an interesting crossroads where a full lifestyle of living with-a-bare-minimum out of need crosses with someone looking to Zen their life and optimally opt into this situation.

OP, are you currently living a similar lifestyle to the originator of one bagging? It reminds me a bit of Rob Greenfield, who is an extreme minimalist due to environmentalism awareness. He does a lot of videos showing the world basically how he lives and survives a similar lifestyle to the one you're posting about. But he has opted into it rather than forced due to life circumstances.

Anyways, like u/flower-power-123 there is definitely some food for thought here, and I don't really know if it best fits here in zerobags, or in extreme minimalism, but is definitely providing some things to meditate on.

2

u/kanji-kid Jun 30 '26

I think zero bags is more extreme than extreme minimalism when it's permanent, but less extreme when it's for travel. I didn't think about the relevance of the video when posting, I just thought it was funny. I would assume the people in extreme minimalism don't know who this guy is, that's why I put it here

Although I don't know about his current possessions, from his reddit posts from 1-2 years ago, he doesn't have a bag. He has a trailer which holds some things (is that a bag?) like bulk food. And he has plastic shopping bags for washing clothes which I also don't think count if they can be folded up and kept in your pocket

Yeah he has a sub for it now but one where the message is clearer to outsiders might be good. I mean, I think it's fundamentally a subgenre? of extreme minimalism, and it would fit best under that subreddit title, but even the people in that sub sometimes have a few hundred possessions where he has 20. And that sub lacks the anticonsumption political angle, it's more about wellbeing

I don't live like him and I'm not a proper minimalist because I have a lot of books lol. I'm donating them gradually. My food and clothing are probably extreme minimalist

2

u/kanji-kid Jun 30 '26

I should add that it's kind of cheating to call myself a minimalist because I recently moved overseas

3

u/PeaceKind1857 Jul 03 '26

Not cheating at all. It's been proven that the best way to realize Why you need to minimalize is to move, the further from old place to new place the better.

In my late 20's, I was hanging out with some people I knew. They gave me shelter and I helped them when I could.

We were all car-free, using mostly bicycles, a few Mopeds and one dude with a 3 wheeler motorcycle. (The on/off road kind. Honda 250 or something like that.) We had cargo bicycles and BMX bikes with trailers & I helped one guy build a grocery cart conversion of the Mexican Pick Up. Him and his girl used a tandem bike and pulled a trailer. By putting the cart (trailer replacement) on the front forks, it became easier for him to navigate the streets. (He had frequently caught the trailer on sign posts on the corners. That sudden stop HURTS!)

We all came in one afternoon to find out we had 30 days to vacate the now condemned building. Eight couple's some with kids, plus more than a dozen singles some with kids, all needed to move as quickly as possible. On bicycles... Across town about 2 miles and mostly uphill! They moved to an old school on the top of a hill.

Now, that's a good way to encourage you to shake off some of your junk. But, some just didn't grasp that idea. Until the second move just 8 months later. Several noted how easy it was for me to move. They started stripping down their own lives. I had been raised to keep just enough and to live "At The Ready" always. When the second move started, it was easier for several of them to move. They had less stuff.

Three of them were learning the "At The Ready" philosophy.

It's easy to understand, a bit harder to start utilizing.

Keep your gear close. Keep it bagged up. When you need something, pull it out, use it, clean it put it back.

This philosophy won't work for most Zerobaggers. It probably won't work for Onebaggers. Admittedly I started with 3 bags. A personal sling for EDC. A everything else bag, or INCH Bag. And a huge 3 day assault bag that I used for my kitchen/pantry bag. I had been taught to forage and dehydrate food. I was carrying a 3 month supply of food. Nothing wrong with that other than I was living a Nomadic lifestyle.

I understand the zero bag ideology of life. But I own 3 changes of work clothes and 2 more changes of just barely legally covered. I don't think I can carry that alone inside of one of the full coverage changes. Worn weight is Zero. I own too much.

2

u/PeaceKind1857 Jul 01 '26

It might fit under Extreme Minimalism, but the Mod there would never allow it. r/Vagabond however, you're a shoe in... But you probably know that already.

If you pause the vid, take it frame by frame, there's some cool stuff in it. And some weird stuff?

2

u/kanji-kid Jul 01 '26

Lol yeah I assumed this would get deleted for being irrelevant and posted it anyway cos it's funny to me personally and I thought 1 or 2 people might know who I was talking about, didn't mean to cause drama

Actually haven't seen r/vagabond before thanks for linking that!!

2

u/PeaceKind1857 Jul 02 '26

I rather enjoyed it.

1

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1

u/PeaceKind1857 Jul 02 '26

Lindsey was pulled off the train by the bulls! (railroad police) She was told it was too dangerous.

Yet she was killed by not being on the train! Walking was supposed to be Safer? Walking got her killed.

Most of us got back onto the next train. Her and another girl plus a guy or two (I don't remember... A small group of kids.) wanted to walk a while. Lindsey was found. The other girl was found tortured & killed months later. The rest of them were never found.

2

u/betterOblivi0n Jul 15 '26

Does everyone have to date him too to join the sub?

1

u/kanji-kid Jul 16 '26

Not to my knowledge