"capsule wardrobe" is the relevant term here, you pick 2-3 colors that work together. It's the femme-coded equivalent. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=capsule+wardrobe&t=osx&ia=images&i...

It's the most versatile. It's more smart, hides sweat/stains, less noticeable if still damp etc. So if you're min-maxing it seems like an obvious choice.

Though I agree a colourful linen shirt for example (pink, yellow) or a merino pullover wouldn't break your back

I wear very little black, but I have tended towards darker colors. I've found that using earth tones blends well, similar to a capsule wardrobe, and you can incorporate greens, blues, and khakis along with darker colors like navy and black. Darker shirt, lighter pants, or lighter shirt, darker pants, and rotate through. You don't need to have very many different colors to effectively dress differently every day of a week or even across two weeks.

Because of the need for minimalism in travel, my wardrobe does tend to be relatively conservative and muted, but it's not all-black all of the time. You can certainly have some color.

I'm wrapping a trip through Europe and I only packed black tshirts and a flannel button-up "for color".

Black is timeless, hides stains and sweat, easily layers of you want to buy something to add to it, matches multiple colors of trouser/jean/shoe.

I vow on my next trip to pack fewer jeans (2 pair vs. 4), more socks (4-6 thin pair vs 3), fewer overshirts (1 vs 3, maybe a second that is "classy").

I value having boots along with running shoes.

I'm a 2 bag traveller. Even with my bloated clothing budget, shoes and toiletries volume, I was able to fit it all in a 46L carry-on backpack + a normal backpack, with a satchel rolled up for use on daily walks.

You can have multiple colors, but doing laundry is easiest if everything is either dark or light. A backpack doesn't carry enough clothing for two loads to be super practical.