The onebagging community prizes traveling light, but a Norway-based traveler just pushed minimalism to its logical extreme: a 6-day conference trip to Vienna using just a 9-liter bag.
The detailed trip report on r/onebag reveals both the possibilities and limitations of ultra-minimal packing for business travel.
What fit in 9 liters: - 3 dress shirts for conference presentations - 2 chino pants - 3 boxer shorts and 3 pairs of merino socks - 1 merino t-shirt and denim jacket - MacBook, iPhone, AirPods, mouse, charger - Toiletries in a pencil case - Passport, wallet, sunglasses - Small tote bag for daily use
Weather in Vienna ranged from 15-25°C (59-77°F), making it relatively easy conditions for minimal packing. The traveler wore sneakers and brought no backup footwear in the original pack.
The smart twist: the trip doubled as a shopping opportunity. Vienna has Decathlon stores, which aren't available in Norway. The traveler bought a down jacket, pool slides, and an additional merino t-shirt—items needed for the future, not the trip itself—and still fit everything in the 9L bag for the return journey.
This reveals a key insight for ultralight travel: strategic shopping at your destination can replace packing, especially when traveling from countries with limited retail options to cities with better selection.
Reflections from the trip:
"For a more flexible vacation trip, I could probably have reduced to 2 shirts and 1 pants. But for a conference, I appreciated having enough variation to always wear something fresh and presentable," the traveler noted.
Regrets were minimal: a forgotten HDMI cable that was never needed, and a 5,000mAh power bank that got used once but wasn't truly necessary.
The bigger question: could this have been a zero-bag trip? The traveler acknowledged that without the laptop requirement, the entire setup could have fit in a small sling bag worn on the body.
