I’m wondering about those of you who commute to work now and then. For some reason I have a hard time minimizing what I carry with me. I don’t have a car, so when I leave the house I need to have everything I might need on my back. It leads to me carrying all kinds of crazy things, like a multi-tool and a flashlight. Do any of you have a minimalist setup for your bike or bus commute?
I’m a bus commuter, though only go in for half a day at a time, so all I take is my work laptop, an umbrella, hand sanitiser, and a little clutch that I move from bag to bag and has my bare essentials (phone, cash/cards, keys, facemasks, tissues, earplugs). My office is in the town centre and provides drinks, so there’s nothing extra I need to be “prepared” for.
Wow, that’s really minimal.
I always bring things I might need for “the worst case scenario.” Maybe I should plan on the “best case scenario” instead.
I prefer to plan for the most likely “bad” scenarios. E.g. wearing shoes that are comfortable enough I could walk home if there were no buses, having enough spare money to pay for a taxi/buy a lunch if need be, keeping my phone charged (which I can do with the laptop chargers at work thanks to standardised USB-C, for other trips I may bring a powerbank) so I can call someone/search online if I need help. The odds of anything happening for which that’s not enough preparation are so remote that it’s not worth having to lug all the gear around all the time.