Jack Reacher is known for many things: being massive, having no fear, being totally bad ass and oh yeah, being Totally Massive! But something people may look over, is his minimalism.

Jack Reacher carries no ID or bank card. All that he has is: His Toothbrush, some cash and the clothes on his back, making him quite possibly the most minimalist hero in modern fiction.

I am going to take a wild guess and assume you already knew what he carried, and that you are actually here to try and be like him/ adopt his minimalistic luggage.

the truth is You try walking around for any long period of time and you’ll want more than just what Reacher Carries.

The Problem With Reacher’s Bag

Jack Reacher is lucky enough to live in the world of fiction, and there is one main thing the world of fiction doesn’t have, Hygiene. Think about it, jack Reacher walks everywhere, for days and days, and your telling me he doesn’t have a change of clothes? not even a spare change of Underwear? The man must stink to high heaven, especially with all the blood sweat and tears he gets on his clothes.

I know what your going to say, “oh he just gets clothes in a goodwill.” and that’s true, but America is a big place, what if there isn’t a good will? what if he shits himself at some point? if you were ever going to adopt his minimalist mindset you need a change of underwear at least!

Another point I must add, A lot of the appeal of living like this, is how cheap it seems. But having to wash your clothes every single day, or buy new ones every single day? that is going to cost you a lot of money, and that Cash Reacher carries really wont last long.

How A Real “Reacher’s Bag” would look

Okay so, you’ve seen enough, you like his approach and your going to replicate it. You’re going to walk from town to town, with just the clothes on your back, a cool Hobo if you will.

But what Exactly should Your bag look like?, if you actually want to travel like Reacher?

Hygiene

Let’s Start with hygiene. You will regularly need to wash yourself, clean you teeth and use the bathroom. Most Hotels will have its own shower gel, or at the very least hand soap, so I wouldn’t worry about that, the same with toilet paper.

That leaves us with toothpaste and toothbrushes as the essential.(yes, I know he only carries the toothbrush, but toothpaste isn’t as common as the show makes it out to be.

Clothing

I’m going to say this, straight off the bat “don’t just bring the clothes on your back!” this is a stupid idea if your going to be away longer than like 2 days! but what should You Take instead?

Take the outfit you want, keep it simple, jeans, t shirt and boots. Where you want to double up is in your underwear and socks, you want two pairs of each, you know in case of “accidents.” Another thing you will need is a coat, I mean it’s going to rain sometime right? This doesn’t mean you need to take some clunky huge puffer, keep it simple like Reacher would, a simple fold up rain coat would be fine, after all you can put up with a bit of cold, not a bit of rain.

Miscellaneous

Don’t worry, my first answer isn’t going to be “cell phone” in fact I am sticking by Reacher’s big rules, No ID, No Credit Card and No Phone.

What will be hugely important when living like Reacher is a map, you need to know where you are going at least, accompany this with a compass and your chances of getting loss are much slimmer.

A Controversial item I will add, is a book. Your going to spend a lot of time doing pretty much nothing, whether that is walking, busing, or just sitting, your going to want to do something to keep you entertained, so take a book to help keep your mind in check.

In Short

So To summarise this article, We know all Jack Reacher has, Is The clothes on his back and a toothbrush, But if you want to actually travel as light your going to need a few more things:

Toothbrush, Toothpaste, outfit, spare pants, spare socks, raincoat, map, compass and a book if you want to cheat a little bit. This sounds like a lot but it really is quite little, this would easily fit into a tiny fanny pack or even some cargo trouser pocket, So if you want to be like Reacher, follow that list!