I got annoyed recently when I wanted to leave the house and noticed my bag was half full just with stuff to deal with weather. In Tokyo, I usually carry an umbrella with me, maybe sunscreen, sunglasses, a mini towel etc. Others have fans, “neck fans” (not sure how they are called). Maybe a water bottle also counts.

All of this is “weather stuff” for me. I asked a friend what she carries around, and we started to think about some other categories as well. So I wondered how much of the stuff we carry around is actually about the thing we want to do wherever we go, and how much is just to cope with the environment? Also, I would be curious how this looks like in other places around the world. Things probably vary by gender, age, season as well.

Some categories are:

  • weather stuff
  • personal hygiene stuff
  • safety stuff
  • not being annoyed by others stuff
  • infrastructure fail stuff (e.g., preparing for when trains get delayed)
  • @Nibodhika
    2•3 months ago

    Depends on where I’m going, the vast majority of times it’s just the basics, key, phone, maybe wallet.

    If I’m going to be on my own for a significant period of time, e.g. taking the bus, I’ll bring my earphones. My backpack always has a power bank in it, so if I’m going anywhere that needs a backpack or when I’ll be away from home for the majority of the day I can ensure I’ll have battery until I get back.

    If I’m going to be walking a lot I always bring my an insulated bottle of cold water on my backpack.

    If it’s winter I’ll be wearing my jacket which is waterproof so I’m covered in case, in summer I usually don’t bother with it now (before I was living in Dublin and would just go out with my jacket on summer, it’s not like it was hot anyways).

    I think that’s it for my EDC. I do have a bunch of specific stuff for travel, but I think that’s beyond the scope here.

    Edit: forgot to mention, my backpack also has a pocket with paracetamol and mints, and has a hand sanitizer clipped to it.