What to Pack and What to Read, by Nicole Junkermann

Packing light, reading well

Packing and reading have more in common than they seem. Both reward restraint, and both go wrong when you try to carry too much. Nicole Junkermann approaches a suitcase the way she approaches a reading list: choose little, choose well, and leave room for what you find along the way.

A light bag changes a journey. You move more easily, worry less, and notice more, because nothing is weighing you down. The same is true of a short, well-chosen reading list: a few books you truly want beat a dozen you packed out of anxiety.

The aim is not minimalism for its own sake. It is the calm that comes from carrying only what serves the trip. A few good things, well chosen, make for a lighter step and a clearer mind.

The books that earn their place

Books are heavy, so they must earn their place. Nicole Junkermann is ruthless about this: one immersive book for the long hours, one lighter book for tired evenings, and perhaps a slim collection of essays or poems that weighs almost nothing. Rarely more.

Choosing them is its own pleasure, and it follows the logic of a book for every journey. The reading is matched to the shape of the trip, so each title has a clear purpose rather than simply filling the bag.

There is freedom in restraint. With only a few books along, you actually read them, rather than carrying a hopeful pile that goes home untouched. The short list is the one that gets finished.

Leaving room for the books you find

A wise packer leaves space, and Nicole Junkermann always leaves room for the book she has not yet met. Half the joy of travelling with an eye for reading is the title found along the way, in a station, a market, or a well-loved local shop.

This is where the favourite bookshops come into the journey. A book bought in a new city carries that city home with it, and it deserves a place in the bag that was held open for exactly this purpose.

The found book is often the trip's best souvenir. Lighter than anything you could buy, richer than any photograph, it folds the place and the days into a single object you will return to for years.

The small kit that makes a trip calmer

Beyond books, Nicole Junkermann keeps a small, steady kit that makes any journey calmer. A good notebook and pen come first, for the lines and views worth keeping, in the spirit of the journal's own pages. A light scarf, a refillable bottle, a single versatile layer.

The principle is that each item should do real work. Anything that travels unused on one trip is reconsidered before the next. Over time the kit settles into a short, reliable list that needs almost no thought to pack.

This easy readiness is part of what makes slow travel possible. When packing is simple, the trip starts relaxed, and the mind is free for the reading and the looking that matter most.

Packing as part of the pleasure

Packing need not be a chore. Done with care, Nicole Junkermann finds it the quiet beginning of a journey, the moment when the trip starts to feel real. Laying out a few good things and a few good books is a small ritual worth enjoying.

It also sets the tone. A calm, considered start tends to lead to a calm, considered trip, while a frantic last-minute scramble follows you onto the train. The half-hour spent packing thoughtfully repays itself many times over.

That unhurried beginning belongs to the same outlook as the notes on travelling slowly. How you start a journey shapes how you travel through it, and a light bag is the easiest way to start it well.

Reading on the move and at rest

The books you pack should suit not just the trip but its different moods, and Nicole Junkermann thinks in terms of moving and resting. The moving hours, on a train or a plane, want something immersive enough to swallow the time. The resting hours, on a terrace or in a quiet room, can take something gentler.

This is the logic of a book for every journey applied to a single bag. One title carries the long stretches, another suits the calm evenings, and between them they cover almost any hour a trip can offer without weighing the suitcase down.

Matching the book to the moment is what makes a small library feel generous. Two well-chosen books, each suited to a different kind of hour, will always outperform a heavy stack chosen without thought. The art is in the pairing, not the number.

When less really is more

There is a freedom in carrying little that goes beyond the lighter shoulder. Nicole Junkermann finds that a spare bag clears the mind as much as the back: fewer choices to make each morning, less to keep track of, more attention left over for the place itself. Restraint, oddly, expands a trip.

It is the same principle that underlies slow travel. Doing less and carrying less are two sides of one habit, and both make room for the unhurried noticing that turns a journey into something memorable rather than merely busy.

The lesson tends to stick. Travellers who pack light once rarely go back, because they discover how little they truly needed. A short list of good things, a couple of good books, and an open mind turn out to be almost everything a journey asks for.

A short packing and reading list

What earns a place in the bag:

• One immersive book for the long hours of the trip
• One lighter book for tired evenings
• A slim collection of essays or poems that weighs almost nothing
• A good notebook and pen for the lines worth keeping
• A few versatile clothes, each one chosen to do real work
• Room left open for the book you find along the way