A New Chapter

I’ve had a little voice in the back of my head for some time now: Prodding me to start a business of my own. Nagging me to spin up something from nothing. Nudging me to work on my own ideas instead of others’ as I’ve done as a designer, engineer, and creative director in the past.

I finally answered that voice.

First things first: The Infatuation was a great company to work with. Chris, Andrew, and team are executing an incredible vision, and I can’t wait to continue to watch them grow. I had a blast completing many challenging projects during my tenure as creative director including working with the team on a complete rebrand. If you find yourself hungry in one of the cities they support, I highly recommend checking them out for restaurant recommendations and guides.

At the end of the day, I finally got the courage to take the leap onto my own into the unknown. I couldn’t be more excited for the learning opportunities and challenges that await. With a blend of experience at Apple, a few startups, and a couple advertising agencies, I feel well equipped and excited to dive in. Although this is beginning as a solo endeavor, it hasn’t entirely felt like it. The support and willingness to help from friends and family has been incredible, and I couldn’t be more grateful as things continue to get moving.

So, what is this business that I speak of? First, we need to go back (like Quentin Tarantino does with his movies).

It all started last year when I was gearing up for my nomadic world travel lifestyle. After selling just about everything I own (besides what’s mentioned in this blog post) I became obsessed with what to carry with me for a year:

• What should I bring for warm and cold weather? I don’t want to be restricted to countries of a certain climate.

• What’s the best way to never check a bag on any airline?

• What are the smallest, most minimal, dual-triple-quad-use items that don’t take up a lot of weight or space?

• What are some good “travel items” to purchase that don’t look like “travel items” (not a fan of fluorescent hiking backpacks and zip-off cargo shorts).

• What’s the best way to create consistent environments for productivity, no matter where I end up?

Why? Because everything I own needs to fit in one bag on my back.

Although some of my friends rolled their eyes when I explained the benefits of merino wool, and thought my quest for the smallest travel toothbrush was ridiculous (ok, maybe it is, a little 🙃), while traveling, I’ve met quite a few travelers unprepared for the above situations. Some were confined to a specific climate, packing clothing only for warm weather. Some felt weighed down by their bags and weren’t flexible to move around until finding a hotel or a locker big enough to fit their giant bags. Others checked a bag and were late to an event due to waiting at the delayed baggage claim, or in some rare cases, lost their checked bag altogether 😞. My goal is to help theses digital nomads, corporate road warriors, and frequent travelers solve these problems & more.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but these obsessions have been slowly spinning themselves into a viable business. A viable business that’s taken on the name Pack Hacker—a resource for the lightest, smallest, best looking, and most functional TSA compliant gear for travel. We’d love to notify you when we launch—feel free to sign up for the announcement here.

I’ll be continuing the nomadic lifestyle this year, living that coffee-shop-work-life that I can’t seem to get enough of. Travel is one of the best ways to gain creative inspiration and as a bonus, expand your world view. A learning piece that I don’t want to give up just yet by settling into one place permanently.

Thanks for reading & see you somewhere around the globe ✈️

This post originally appeared on Medium.