I am a minimalist. I am also a take-it-easy guy when it comes to pilgrimage/vacation.
I take whatever it minimally requires. If the "pack" does not fit in the airplane's overhead compartment, let it be, then send it to the belly of the plane. I will be happily and relaxing in my seat.
While waiting for the pack being spit out, I will sit casually in a bench nearby and studying the behavior of the folks circling around the carousal or mediate. Why in a hurry?! I am on vacation/pilgrimage.
It's just me.
Bon Camino
It isn't just an issue of being quick on and off the plane and bypassing baggage claim. Backpacks can and do get lost or stolen.
I have related before how I flew into a city for the next day's start on a month long thru hike in the Rockies. Because of all the backpacking I do, my gear is ultralight and lightweight and while expensive, is used far more in one year, than most weekend backpackers would use theirs over a ten year period of time.
So here I am less than 24 hours before a 4 week backpacking trip with my gear missing. All of my gear plus the first 10 days supply of freeze dried food. As the minutes go by while watching and waiting for my backpack to appear on the luggage carousel, that sinking feeling and anxiety level just kept rising.
Finally, dealing with the fact that it wasn't showing up, I went to the baggage claim office, filled out the paper work, and headed out to my hotel room. But while I should have been able to relax and decompress from the trip, I had to scramble to replace every single item of gear and food.
Because much of my gear is manufactured by cottage gear makers, and requires online purchases, I had to head to the local REI and do the best I could to substitute what I had with something else to make do.
Stove, mattress, tent, sleeping quilt, poncho, clothing, water storage and filtration, cooking mug, and on and on. Then having to pick through the limited selections of freeze dried food to make up my meal inventory.
for 10 days. Fortunately, I was wearing my trail runners and one pair of the socks I use so at least I didn't have to replace those. And the REI didn't even carry what I wore, anyway.
What REI didn't have, I finally found at two other outdoor stores.
So, no, it isn't just an issue of needing to be more relaxed or meditative; it is a matter of security and actually being assured that you will have your stuff when you arrive.
BTW, it ended up that the airlines believed my gear had been stolen by someone working at the departure airport as there was no record of my backpacked having been scanned upon arrival.
Oh, and despite providing proof of each item and its value, I was reimbursed only 25% of its actual value.
