In the Traveler’s Bag — Inside the Pack of a Smart, Creative Traveler

Invited to go camping for the first time? Bad at packing? Not sure which products to use? Here are six items for different situations, each with a sustainable twist.

Words Parc Jinmyoung

To you, who struggle with packing
The easiest way to travel sustainably is to cut down on needless waste and trash at your destination. Bring everything you think you will need, from a tumbler and your own tableware to toiletries and indoor slippers. I used to pack things I planned to throw away and dump them at my destination to lighten my load, or fill my bag with newly bought things instead. I overlooked the fact that a place I would only pass through for a while might be someone else’s home. Once I realized that, I started putting real effort into packing. I bought pouches in several sizes and learned how to organize all my belongings efficiently.
The most useful product for packing has been the travel pouches from Baggu (from $32), a lifestyle brand based in Brooklyn, New York. The brand is famous for its reusable shopping bags. The pouches come in many shapes, including cube pouches, 3D pouches, and flat pouches, so you can choose according to your taste and needs. Personally, I like pouches that open out wide so I can see everything at a glance. The kitschy prints and patterns and the bold color combinations are charming, too. What makes Baggu’s pouches even more special is that they are made of 100 percent recycled nylon. In fact, Baggu is known for its reusable shopping bags. The brand puts sustainability first at every stage of making a product, from design to production, operations, marketing, and branding. It uses recycled materials in all its products, and for nylon in particular, it has used 100 percent recycled fabric since 2022. Its packaging also uses biodegradable poly bags and 100 percent recycled paper with FSG certification.

P.S. Besides pouches and shopping bags, there are plenty of other travel goods, including towels, hats, picnic blankets, and bags, so it is worth taking a look.
P.S. 2. If you are curious about sustainable travel, from packing to choosing a destination, click here!

To you, who still carry your shoes in a plastic bag
This happened when I traveled with my younger sibling. We had played hard all trip, and on the last day, as we were packing before checkout, my sibling suddenly asked if I had seen a black plastic bag. I had just tossed a bag that was lying around the room into the trash can. “That’s my shoe bag! Why would you throw it away?” my sibling snapped. Apparently it was a beloved item that had carried a pair of Crocs for the entire month-long trip.
For people like my sibling who carry spare shoes in plastic bags, I would like to recommend the shoe bag from RE;CODE (49,000 won). RE;CODE is an upcycling brand run by Kolon Industries. Since 2012, it has focused on industrial materials about to be discarded over minor defects, airbags in particular, and has raised the issue of sustainability in the fashion industry. Last year was already its tenth anniversary. RE;CODE’s clothes are made from leftover stock, fabric scraps left after production, and trimmings. Its accessories line uses industrial materials such as airbags and car seats, along with eco-friendly fabrics. The RE;CODE shoe bag is also made with airbag fabric on one side and cotton on the other. The design itself looks unremarkable, but the sturdiness of the industrial material and the fact that it rescues airbag fabric that was headed for the trash make it a product that strongly tempts me to buy.

P.S. While my sibling rustled around with the black plastic bag, I fumbled out a dust bag. I use the dust bags that come with clothes I buy as shoe bags. I still can’t forget the envious look my sibling gave me.

To you, who lug your belongings around like a peddler
My first trip abroad in three years was full of changes. The most surprising was the eSIM, which you register with a QR code. Swapping out a USIM chip had become a thing of the past. It is convenient, and since it means one less piece of trash to throw away after the trip, I think it is a good change. Some inconveniences were actually welcome. When I checked in at a hostel, there always used to be a fluffy dry towel on the bed, but at the hostel where I stayed this time, there wasn’t one. When I asked the staff, they said they rent out a towel for 2 euros. To save resources, they provide towels and fresh bed sheets only when needed. I gladly paid the 2 euros, thinking of it as an environmental fee. I used to think sustainable travel meant cutting back on everything, but it seems that your backpack actually has to get heavier. To reduce the use of disposable items, the best approach is to bring your own personal supplies, at least for the basics.
If I had had a towel from Tekla, a fabric brand from Copenhagen, Denmark, I would never have been flustered by a bare bed with no towel. Tekla is a brand that anyone interested in home goods probably already knows. Its towels are a little pricey, but they stand out for their simple, minimalist Scandinavian design. Above all, they are made of 100 percent organic cotton, so they feel soft every time they touch your skin. I know, because I have touched them. The new collection this year was reportedly inspired by Icelandic swimming pools and the bathing culture that developed around them. According to the collection’s introduction, in Iceland the swimming pool connects people to one another, like a piazza in Italy or a pub in England. The moment you use a Tekla product, even an ordinary bathroom becomes an Icelandic hot spring. Well, honestly, it could become anywhere. Personally, I’d like my bathroom to become a youth hostel in Berlin.

P.S. When you order Tekla products, they arrive in eco-friendly packaging. We have reached an age when even the packaging can be a reason to choose a product.

To you, who recently renewed your passport
After more than three years away from airplanes, my passport had long since expired. I got a new next-generation e-passport. The design, which draws heavily on Korea’s cultural heritage from the cover to the inner pages, is quite impressive. I think the biggest change is that the personal data page is now plastic, for better security and durability. Once I had the new passport, my old, worn-out passport case caught my eye. I couldn’t help thinking, ‘If it had been from the Swedish outdoor brand Fjällräven, a few coats of wax would have made it like new again.’
Fjällräven is famous for making highly durable products with ‘G-1000,’ a fabric it developed itself. The brand began when its founder, Åke Nordin, started making clothes from a fabric he had developed to lighten tents. He later mixed beeswax and paraffin into the material to improve its water and wind resistance, creating ‘G-1000.’ It put into practice the motto ‘wearing something for a long time is what makes it eco-friendly.’ To keep clothes working well for years, the brand also developed a wax that mixes beeswax and paraffin. When you rub the wax onto areas where water and wind resistance has weakened, the function is quickly restored. The same goes for the passport case. It feels reassuring, as if it will keep a passport with an embedded electronic chip safe. Personally, my favorite part is the pocket for coins!

P.S. I’m not the only one who struggles to keep track of coins, am I? When traveling in Europe or Japan, where people still use a lot of cash, nothing is as useful as a coin purse. Fjällräven makes a coin purse too, so take a look.

To. You, Who Have Better Choices
These days, the age of luxury shoppers keeps getting younger, and even teenagers are reportedly buying designer wallets. Global luxury brands are racing to sign idol members as ambassadors, so teens, the core consumers of K-pop, naturally become interested in luxury goods. So how would Chanel, worn by BLACKPINK’s Jennie, and Dior, worn by Jisoo, score on climate action? The digital climate platform for K-pop fans KPOP4PLANET (@kpop4planet) and the international environmental group Action Speaks Louder (@action.speaks.louder) released the report ‘Luxury Unboxing: Greenwashing Edition’, which gave Chanel and Dior an F and an E, respectively (see the link for details). Persuading teenagers in the thick of adolescence may be nearly impossible, but there is surely something we adults can do.
With that in mind, the item I’d like to introduce is the Aegiro card wallet (38,000 won). It is made of Haunji, a plant-based leather that combines hanji, the traditional Korean paper made from mulberry bark, with natural fibers. Haunji is an eco-friendly material that, once buried in the ground, breaks down by 92 percent in six months and returns to the soil. Thanks to the breathability, antibacterial properties, and odor-absorbing qualities of hanji, it is used for clothing as well as shoes and furniture, and because it is biodegradable, it is drawing attention as a sustainable material.
Pado of Seoul is a lifestyle brand that makes eco-friendly goods such as wallets, bags, and hats from vegan leathers like Haunji and recycled fabrics made from discarded plastic bottles. Its wallets come in three types, so you can choose according to your taste and needs: a slim card wallet, a standard wallet for bills and coins, and a mini bag that holds small items such as lipstick or powder.
The best way to care for the environment is to buy a good-quality wallet and use it for a very long time, right? Even better if it is made from eco-friendly materials. This is the age of value-driven consumption, when the things we carry express our own philosophy.

P.S. If you know of a better alternative, send it to us through Pitch by Pitch’s official Instagram account (@pbp.seoul)!

To. You, invited camping for the first time!
Do you remember the Netflix reality show “Siren: Survive the Island,” released last summer? Twenty-four women form six teams by profession and compete fiercely on an unknown island. It won great popularity at home and abroad because it captured not only physical contests but also each profession’s sense of vocation. One scene that stuck with me is the moment the contestants, having packed their survival bags and arrived on the island, were each handed a palm-sized pouch and told to fill it with what they needed to survive. Being a hopelessly invested viewer, I started wondering what I would put in mine. It reminded me of my first camping trip, when a friend who owned plenty of camping gear told me, “Bring a spoon.” Since then, I think, the belief that ‘cutlery is the basis of survival’ has stuck with me (the contestants in “Siren: Survive the Island” carved wood into whatever they needed).
Portable cutlery matters. It’s even better when the design and usability are excellent. The cutlery set from Takakuwa Kinjoku (1,000 yen), a lifestyle brand with a 50-year history of making tableware, is designed to combine a spoon, fork, and knife compactly into one, making it easy to carry. It’s a small pity that it’s made of stainless steel rather than light, durable titanium, but the price is low, so I’ll let that slide. Besides cutlery, Takakuwa Kinjoku makes camping gear such as cookware sets and mugs, and those lines also stand out for design ideas that boost their usability.
I always pack portable cutlery when I travel to Southeast Asia, too, where street food is thriving. With it, I figure I can eat comfortably anywhere. It also eases my guilt about waste a little.

P.S. What would you put in a palm-sized survival pouch?