Sometime late 2013 I stumbled upon the 100 Thing Challenge (100TC) which basically challenges you to fight consumerism and reduce your belongings to a 100 things or less.

At that time I had to move out of my apartment in Düsseldorf early so I was confronted with all the stuff I owned: Sorting things out, packing things into boxes, throwing things out or selling them if I thought there might be a value in them for someone.

I also knew already that I’d go to Thailand in March and so after the realisation that I owned way too much crap I started to throw a lot of things out to minimise the number of boxes I had to store.

However, I didn’t quite manage to get down to 100 things. My collection of GDR memorabilia alone consists of over a 100 items and although I know I don’t really need it, there’s some kind of sentimental bond that wouldn’t let me sell it.

The good thing is that all my belongings are now stored at my parents house and for my journey to Thailand I thought I’d limit myself to only travelling with hand luggage to also limit the number of items I could take with me.

Here’s a complete list of the things that are in my weekender bag as I am writing these lines:

1x German passport

1x extremely small wallet

1x visa card

1x EC card + TAN generator

1x pants

7x collared shirts

1x sweatshirt

1x polo shirt

4x t-shirts

2x ties

10x underwear

10x socks

1x sun glasses

1x prescription glasses

1x wrist watch

1x small army bag

1x MacBook Air

1x MacBook charger

1x iPad + sleeve

1x iPad charger + cable

1x iPhone

1x iPhone charger + cable

1x headphones

1x Magic Mouse

1x battery pack 4500mah + small cable

1x battery pack 20000mah + small cable

1x keychain + card holder

1x toothbrush

1x hair styling paste

2.5x blisters of Paracetamol

1x thermometer

1x earplugs

Now as you can see there is a lot of room for improvement here and there. I expect myself to throw out stuff I find not useful as well as buying new items that I’ve initially forgotten or couldn’t take with me because of hand luggage regulations as I go.

Update: After there has been some kind of discussion going on over at Reddit, I thought it would be a good idea to write a follow up on this post, going more into detail with some of the things I’ve packed.