Hi, I’m Travis Gutierrez.Travel gear, food and trip planning.
I’m a web developer who loves traveling, eating, and buying too much gear. I spend my days modernizing systems and databases — my own trip planning just became the next one. I travel light and intentionally, so the time and the money go to the food.
Episodes
- Trip planning
The Trip Planning System That Replaced My 200 Saved Pins
Four rules, one Notion build, and why a folder of saved pins was useless.
- Gear
Travel Essentials You Can Skip — And the 3 You Can't
Tech, toiletries and clothes — and the three things I would buy again.
- Gear
Everything in My Carry-On: Bags, Pouches and When I Use Each
The carry-on kit: bags, pouches, and what earns its space.
Gear I travel with
Bags
- Able Carry Max EDC
Daily driver for about two years. The "1" in the one-and-a-half bag setup.
- Bellroy Transit Carry-On
The roller half of the pair. Carry-on only, so nothing gets checked.
- Able Carry Sling
Lower profile than the Alpaka, which makes it the better airport-day sling.
- Alpaka Bravo Sling Max
The sling I reach for when I need more day capacity than the Able Carry holds.
- Pakt 45L
Swaps in for longer trips, cold weather, and road trips — roller-sized packing space without giving up the trunk.
- Evergoods CAP1 and CAP2
The only tech pouches I use. Bought my mom a CAP after she watched me use one on a couple of flights.
- Able Carry Packing Cubes
New to the kit and being tested on the Italy trip. Bought them because they are modular rather than one fixed set of sizes.
Power
- Anker 2-in-1 140W cable
If you buy one thing off this page, this is it. Phone and laptop, two phones, phone and camera — one cable covers it. USB-C to USB-C only, so check what you still own.
- Epicka 70W travel adapter
The wattage printed on the body is the limit for the side USB ports, not the main wall port — your laptop still charges at full speed through it.
- Epicka 20W travel adapter
The smaller of the pair. If you only travel with a phone and a power bank, 20W is genuinely all you need.
- Anker Prime 160W
What I carry when the laptop, phone, power bank and cameras all need to charge fast in one evening.
- Anker 20W travel charger
Pairs with the Prime as the minimal half of my current charging setup. Slimmer package than the older combination it replaced.
- Anker Prime USB-C cable
Fast charge and transfer speeds for backing up photos. Overkill for the chargers I travel with — the second one lives in my work backpack.
- Silkland 240W cable
Near-identical quality to the Anker for much less. I use the short one for topping off power banks when I skip the MagSafe charger.
- Nitecore NB10000 and NB20000
Ultralight, durable, fast. I carry both because I like being able to top off during stops. Neither is waterproof — check the rating if you are hard on gear.
- Anker MagGo power bank
A little thick, but it never leaves the bag. The Slim is the better pick if thickness matters to you.
- UGREEN hub
Fast photo backup on the road. Not sure it is the best option out there, but it has not failed me.
- AirFly Pro
Connects wireless headphones to seatback screens. Comes with the two-prong adapter, which some Delta seats still need. I have had trouble pairing it with Sony headphones; Bose and AirPods have been fine.
Clothing
- Darn Tough socks
Merino wool — temperature regulating, odor resistant, quick drying, and they stop blisters on 20,000-step days. Air them out overnight and they are good for the next day.
- Ten Thousand pants
Training pants that dress up and down and pack small — one or two pairs will cover 14+ days. Pricey, and it took months of ordering and returning other travel pants to land here.
- Ibex Merino Wool Goat T-Shirt
The best base layer I have used.
- Melin Hydro hat
Sunscreen is not always enough. This handles a humid Barcelona afternoon and a downpour in Japan or Scotland. I travel with the black one because it goes with everything.
Toiletries
- GOSHI Exfoliating Shower Towel
Had the same one since 2020 and bought five more. Lathers with almost no soap, exfoliates, dries fast enough to pack the next morning. Plenty of hotels do not give you a washcloth.
- Leaf Twig razor
Wet shave without the razor burn I get from electrics. Blades are not carry-on friendly, so I buy them on arrival and slot one in.
- Oral-B electric toothbrush
Arguably excessive for travel, but I hated going back to a manual brush. Lasts about two weeks on a charge, so the charger stays home.
- Gravel containers
Shaving cream in one, aftershave in the other. Cheaper alternatives exist — these just pack out better. Skippable if you buy small sizes on arrival.
- Lucky Cat Collective cologne
Subtle enough that you cannot really over-apply it, which matters at high-end restaurants and in Japan generally. Sabo and Kawa are the two I carry.
- CeraVe face wash and lotion
My everyday routine, decanted. Travel is not the time to change what your skin is used to.
Contact
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