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At the conclusion of my twelve day, three stop trip with zero bags, I found myself racing against the clock to catch the VTA bus from SJC airport. Were I more encumbered, I would have missed it, but thanks to having no luggage, I got to the stop right as the bus was pulling up. In my own small way, I felt like the NASA team pulling off the recent Artemis II mission. The stars aligned, the correct calculations were made, and everything ran to perfection in order for me to walk onto the bus seconds after it pulled into the station. Here’s a recap of the last leg of the trip, along with what worked, what didn’t, and what I’d do differently on my next zero bag trip. If you haven’t done so already, read my mid-trip report here.

I checked out of my hotel in Las Vegas in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. The hotel didn’t have a shuttle bus, but they said they could call a car for me. I declined, because I was already planning on walking from the hotel, which was located near the Las Vegas Convention Center, to the airport. I’ve done this over half a dozen times in the past, starting back when I was working at Recode. The route is under three miles and normally takes me about 45 minutes. Construction on Paradise Road near the airport — some kind of flood control infrastructure — took me on the left side of Paradise instead of the right. The man-made depression in the ground reminded me of a smaller version of Meteor Crater that I had visited the previous week.

Las Vegas at 4:45 am is pretty quiet; while there were people still playing the slot machines in the hotel lobby, there were fewer people walking the streets, let alone anyone walking all the way to the airport. But that’s what I like about LAS; you can, if you want to, walk to the airport. I won’t subject anyone to doing this were I traveling in a group, but when I’m solo, it’s go time!

Changing Flights and the AmEx Lounge

Originally, I was scheduled for an 8:10 am flight to SFO. I must have bought the ticket because it was significantly cheaper than flying to SJC. But that flight was said to be delayed by over an hour. As a result, I fired up the Southwest app on my phone and changed to an 8:40 am flight to SJC flying out of Gate C.

That gave me more time to enjoy the AmEx Centurion Lounge over by Gate B. Boarding started at 8:15 am. But first, I had to get through security. The lines weren’t at all long, but I shortened it just a tad with my Clear pass.

The wait to get through TSA bag and body screening, however, seemed interminable. At least we didn’t have to pull out liquids, electronics, or take off our shoes like we used to. On my flight from Phoenix to Las Vegas, I had forgotten to remove my belt—which has some metal in the buckle—and somehow the millimeter-wave scanner didn’t flag it. I made it through, but it felt like I’d just gotten lucky. Not wanting to push it this time, I took it off ahead of time and stuffed it into my jacket along with everything else. All I had to do was toss the jacket and my RevenueCat hat (that I got in Chicago) into the bin and walk through the scanner.

I’m on the lookout for a TSA-friendly belt that doesn’t need to be removed and sports a flatter profile. If you have a favorite, drop a note in the comments section below.

Is This Seat Taken?

One thing that I didn’t account for when traveling with no luggage is how to tell people that you’re still using a seat in the lounge. Normally, people would leave their backpacks and roller bags by their table, but with no luggage, what do you do? When I went to get seconds, I left my jacket on the booth chair. Otherwise, someone would have swooped in to grab my spot. By the time I left, the lounge was packed, and people were walking around looking for an empty place to sit.

Rewind: Walking From LAS and NAB Gear Report

In my packing post, I thought about swapping out the Uniqlo Blouson Utility Jacket with the Scottevest Pack Windbreaker when I connected with my family in Arizona, but I ultimately kept the Uniqlo for Vegas. I tested out the windbreaker throughout our travels to the Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon, and the Glen Canyon Dam. I was only carrying the essentials in the jacket, so no iPad, no extra cables or chargers, etc.

For Vegas, I actually preferred the heavier structure provided by the Uniqlo. The outside pockets had buttons, so the contents of it wouldn’t fall or slide out if I folded the jacket and carried it on my arm. Plus, I wore the windbreaker last year at NAB 2025, so it was time to change things up style-wise.

Good decision too, because I got complimented at least three times on the jacket. Two were from from the Sandisk booth workers and the third from my friend and former co-worker from Vox Media, Becca Farsace. The last time we were together in Vegas, we went to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and had a blast climbing the boulders and taking photographs. Since then, she’s left The Verge to become a successful indie content creator and tech reviewer.

Sent Back to the Bay Area

I ending up not taking the Toshi 2.5L sling bag that I had my wife bring from home. It’s just too heavy when empty and too brick like when loaded up. I sent it and the windbreaker back to the Bay Area with her, along with these items that I brought with me to Chicago:

• Merino wool turtleneck
• Rode Wireless Micro
• Canvas pouch
• RevenueCat t-shirt and swag from the conference
• Apple Digital AV Adapter
• Seeed ESP32S3
• Short USB-C cable

Socks Left Behind

I had accidentally left my Bombas socks hanging in the hotel bathroom in Arizona, so those were left behind. That meant daily washing for the dry-fit socks, which got a little stinky after long days of walking the show floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center. This year’s NAB was spread across the West, North, and Central Halls. My legs and feet were tired when I finally returned to the hotel room after each night!

Gear Thoughts

Here are additional thoughts on the tech that I brought with me on the trip.

Tech

I could have and probably should have given my iPad mini to my wife to return to the Bay Area. I didn’t use it as much as I thought I would during the conference for demos. I found the combination of showing Action Phrase on the iPhone was sufficient. Because the app can run in the background, I could show it in concert with MixEffect, which was connected to my home network over a Wireguard VPN. My iPad mini (A17 Pro) lacks cellular, so I had to use Personal Hotspot to get it connected to the internet. A cellular iPad mini would have been more handy and easier to demo. It would also have helped me conserve the battery life on my phone, which reached the red zone below 20% in the afternoon each conference day. I dumped the energy contents of the Anker Nano MagSafe into my iPhone 15 Pro Max every day and even had to recharge from an AC outlet for 20 minutes on Saturday because I was running out of battery on both.

I’m hoping the foldable iPhone (Ultra?) comes with superior battery life, as I disliked traveling with the power bank. It was slim, yes, but added unnecessary weight to my already light load-out.

I did not miss the AirPods at all, but I think I would have brought them if I didn’t have to bring the iPad mini with me. The wired headset lived in the watch pocket of my jeans and that can also fit the AirPods. Still, it was one less thing to charge, so I’m happy with my decision to leave the AirPods behind.

The Nomad Slim 65W dual charger was great. I’m so glad that I brought this instead of my chunkier Anker Prime 67W.

Like with the AirPods, I’m glad I left my Apple Watch Ultra at home. Although I wasn’t receiving notifications on my wrist — I had to be more mindful of the time and where I needed to be — I didn’t need to bring yet another charger or charging cable. The Miltado requires none of that, and I only had to change the time manually a few times (going to and from Chicago and when driving within Arizona). If I were to invest in a higher-end watch, I think I will go for a solar or automatic watch with at least 100m water resistance. I like the idea of a fully manual, mechanical watch, but I’m not sure if I would like having to wind it up every few days.

Clothing

Bringing the Bluffworks Departure Jeans was a good decision. They were more rugged than the Ascender Chinos, which was useful with all the outdoor activities in Arizona. The extra side pocket along the right leg meant I didn’t have to put my MagSafe Wallet and power bank in my back pockets. The back, zippered security pocket held my hotel keycards, which kept them away from being demagnetized by a MagSafe magnet or a chip-enabled credit card.

On the last day, I just wore my running shorts to the conference. Vegas was warm, and I figured I could walk around casually without my jacket or my jeans. These running shorts from Lululemon have two elastic side pockets, where I could fit my phone on one side and my power bank and headphones on the other side. It has two standard hand pockets, where I put business cards and sweet treats from the booths. It also has a zippered back pocket, in which I put my wallet, AC adapter and USB cables. I did feel a little out of place considering this was a business trade show, but it’s all good.

Wool Buff

The wool buff was also a very versatile piece of clothing. I could dry my hair with it, cover my face and neck on cold days, and overall give a little splash of style to my outfit. Gray is a neutral color, but I’m already thinking of getting a few more in different colors to mix things up in my future travels.

Merino Wool Turtleneck and T-Shirt

I wore the merino wool turtleneck for most of the days in Chicago. Since I had the wool buff, I didn’t need any extra warmth in the neck area, so I might opt for a light wool sweater in the future. The turtleneck that I bought developed a small hole near the bottom of the shirt, so durability is a future concern. As I mentioned before, it did not make the trip to Las Vegas due to temperature. If I didn’t have Rae to bring it back home, I wonder what I would have done. It’s not very compressible, so I couldn’t stuff it into the pocket of the Uniqlo jacket. Would I have tied it around my waist until I got to the hotel? Donated it to a thrift store or thrown it in the trash?

The Wool & Prince t-shirt, on the other hand, was used for the entire trip. I’ve been a customer of theirs for over a decade now, and I am very happy with the t-shirt’s performance over the past two weeks.

Thoughts for the Next Zero Bag Trip

I packed really well for this near two-week trip to Chicago, Arizona, and Las Vegas. I didn’t bring anything unnecessary and used pretty much everything that I brought. I really enjoyed the freedom of just walking around like Jack Reacher with nothing on my back or strapped on one shoulder. The weather cooperated for the most part, and I was never uncomfortably hot or cold.

Getting to the bus on time and not having to wait for the next one was the capstone to the trip and reinforced my decision to travel without bags. I’m heading down to San Diego in a couple of weeks and will be one-bagging it since I need to bring my laptop. But I’m already looking forward to the next trip. The packing list may change, but I’ll do my best to travel without luggage!

If you have any questions regarding zero bagging, please leave them in the comment section below!