Interestingly enough @botvot I own a Scott vest and would simply remove it and place it in a bin at security. Odd that this gentleman wore his through the scanner. Don’t all outer garments go through the X-ray? Perhaps each airport has different rules. I have to say, the vest is VERY convenient for being out and about without always carrying a handbag or tote. And, I do occasionally forget which pocket has which stuff 
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@mars having read about Scottevests for years, I got serious a few weeks ago and ordered an Ex Officio version for our up-coming trip to Europe (It was 50% off in an end-of-season sale.)
It’s going to be odd, but I’m going to leave my purse with a few things that will stay in our car in the States – it’ll be the first time in a long time that I won’t have my security-blanket of a purse! 
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Those are also great to take on a cruise to hang on the shower door. Makes everything visible, easy to find, and usually not enough room in those tiny bathrooms.
@Colin I’m in the process of doing exactly the same; very cathartic to unburden yourself of possessions. Still got a long way to go on some items!
I’ve also quickly learned that what I’m carrying clothes wise I’m only using half of that. Will do a few more seasons and if I’m still wearing the same items over and over I’ll give the rest to charity.
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As full time travellers, part time sitters, quite often bicycle tourers and the rest of the time back packers… our one rule is if you can’t carry your luggage for a couple of hours, you have too much. The second rule is…something in, something out. In 16 years on the road we are always refining what we carry. But it boils down to…3 outfits - mix and match. Functional clothes dependingon location and activities…coat, bike knicks, swimmers etc …medication. everything else is readily purchased in most countries…and compared with the hassle of carrying more luggage, cheap.
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I thought I’d come back to this question as I was on the road for most of 2022, so I now have all the necessary experience to answer this! All the answers were really helpful in getting myself ready for the experience.
To answer the specific questions
- Wrapping paper for presents - never turned out to be necessary. Amazon wraps and posts stuff and even though they are evil it’s hard to resist that convenience. It also helps that there’s a general trend towards people wanting less stuff and being less bothered by physical gifts. Most people I just sent a nice message or a call to. For Christmas I was staying with relatives, so they had it.
- Formal wear - still tricky - I got lucky in that I only had 1 wedding that was near to my mum’s where I was storing all my stuff including my suit. Not sure what I would have done otherwise, rental I suppose.
- Cooking - just adapted - for this I simply had to accept that I couldn’t cook in the way that I wanted to. This doesn’t mean that I couldn’t cook, I made a lot of great meals. My strategy was to turn up at the housesit and see what the homeowner has in in terms of sauces and spices and based it around that. Sometimes I got lucky with an amazing range of Asian condiments, sometimes they have 2 hobs and salt. Either way, I just went with it and adapted to what was available.
- Gear for hobbies - went without - not as important I’d expected. The main thing I wanted was a yoga mat. However pretty much everywhere has a yoga class, just go to that. Don’t carry your own clay, find a workshop to do. Really travelling, exploring places and researching/planning the next steps took up all my time anyway.
Overall my experiences taught me that I need very little stuff in my life of my own. So much of what I use is just general household stuff like furniture, bedding, kitchen stuff that I don’t need to carry my own version of with me. My clothes and electronics are pretty much what I need.
That said, after having lived without my own home since 1st May 2022 until now, there’s a few things I do miss.
- Bathroom scales - There was only one unusual thing I did find that I needed which was a pair of scales. I thought that was silly when I first set off, so I didn’t get them. Turned out that made it quite easy to put on weight. Recently I bought some mini scales which are great, so problem solved.
- Kitchen and cooking - yes you can cook and eat well in housesits. But I’m passionate about cooking and I couldn’t build up a library of unusual ingredients. Carrying round pickles and ferments or a sous vide machine is out of the question. I’m looking forward to getting back to that.
- My own design and taste - I miss being able to style a house in my own way. My own plants, putting up art on the walls. It’s not necessarily that I need to do it myself, but the chances of someone elses taste intersecting perfectly with mine is pretty low, and a lot of homes aren’t what I like at all. I’m also dreaming of having my own tropical garden, a garden office and an outdoor cooking setup. None of that’s possible right now!
- Wider range of clothes - autumn jackets don’t fit very well into a backpack. It’s nice to be able to dress up nice in something more stylish than the patagonia nanopuff I’ve worn for 6 months straight. Recently since Christmas I have been doing longer stays and I’ve brought a suitcase with me as well which has allowed me to carry a bit more food stuff and most of my clothes, which has basically solved this one.
- Social life - not so much seeing people, but the ability to plan consistently into the future knowing where I’ll be, for seeing friends and making new friends wherever I am. At first I stayed with lots of friends and caught up with people around the country and other countries, but the novelty of that wore off and it became a bit tiring. I met a lot of people in Europe at meetups etc, but there’s only so many people I can meet once and then never see again before it gets boring. So I’m looking forward to putting down roots and getting to build new friendships.
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Hi @topcat. Thanks for circling back to your original post and giving us an update on what you found during your time on the road.
Each of us has different things that are important to us, yet many of the things you mention may be near universal for most nomads. It’s always nice to put the things I miss into perspective by hearing that they’re things other nomads miss too.
Thanks again for coming back to the forum. May 2023 be full of happy and safe travels for you!
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