Luigi Rausch was never a good traveler. He was the guy who would fill up two suitcases, packing way too many clothes and bringing more luggage than any of his friends.
Then, while planning a trip to Hong Kong a few years ago he came upon a story about no-bag travel — traveling without a bag and just the clothes your wearing and the stuff in your pockets.
“If this guy can travel to multiple countries without any bags, then I can travel to Hong Kong with just one backpack. That was sort of the genesis of all this,” said Rausch. “So I found a backpack and did some research, and loved it. Everything about my trip was easier and more enjoyable and I decided that I’m never going back.”
That trip inspired Rausch to create Lessification, a website that provides tips and resources on how to simplify traveling.
“Essentially it’s if minimalism & travel had a baby — we tell you how to pack, so you can travel easily with one backpack or less,” said Rausch.
The website includes blog posts focused on individual travel topics including ‘how to pack less clothes’ and ‘minimizing your toilets.’ Rausch also posts what he calls ‘travel tip Tuesday’ on Lessification’s social media channels. “Its basically travel school in bite-size chunks.”
In addition to running Lessification, Rausch currently works as a UX & Visual Designer for Now Now, a design studio based in Des Moines.
Rausch’s site was negatively impacted by COVID when travel largely came to a standstill in March.
“Like everything, you just kind of have to pivot and look for a silver lining,” said Rausch. “And in this case it’s super cheap airline tickets, not just in the short-term but in the long-term as well.”
Moving forward, Rausch says he eventually would like to expand Lessification to include other topics.
“Right now Lessification solely focuses on travel,” said Rausch. “Eventually, I would like to expand into other things and apply Lessification principles to everyday life like finance and health.”
