Whether you're trying to avoid checked bag fees or heavy lifting, packing lightly doesn't have to be difficult. Especially in summer, a few tips can help you limit your luggage.
I really enjoy packing, which I guess is due to a combination of trip anticipation and inner organizational neat freak. In packing to travel abroad and domestically, I have learned how to cut back on what I include. Here are some guidelines I find helpful.
Start early: For a trip that's a week or longer, I typically get my suitcase out two or three days before I'm leaving. It helps me get into travel mode early, which means I'll have time to think of things like laundry and outfits.
Make a list: My mom recently brought up that when my brother and I were little, she made a point of teaching us how to pack our own bags. List-making was always the first step to doing it efficiently.
Stick to a few versatile pieces of clothing and pairs of shoes: Choose colors and patterns that will mix and match easily so that you'll be able to wear each piece more than once. This forethought reduces how much you'll pack and can make getting dressed easier. For women, dresses are pretty foolproof. Include things that can transition from casual to dressier; for shoes, think loafers for men or ballet flats for women. (And I never pack more than three pairs.)
Think about outfits: Similarly, you'll end up bringing less stuff if you spend a few minutes planning outfits. By having incorporated versatile tops and bottoms, you'll still have options to choose from depending on your mood when you're traveling. Women can include a few staple pieces of jewelry, which won't take up much space but can change a look.
Dress your heaviest onboard: I travel wearing my bulkier items, which for airplanes in the summer includes pants and the only cardigan I'm bringing.
Learn what you don't have to pack: To save suitcase space you can easily forgo many items, particularly hair dryers and most toiletries. Hotels and hosts typically will oblige, and, if need be, you can pick up toiletries at a drugstore. And in general remember that when it comes down to it, very few things (e.g. prescriptions and contacts) are essential.
Go for light reading: I love to read while traveling and try to stick to paperbacks under 300 pages or else magazines. At those times, I avoid tomes (I'm looking at you, The Brothers Karamazov.)
MORE PACKING TIPS ON APARTMENT THERAPY:
• Secret to Successfully Packing Light: Pick a Palette
• Well Designed Travel: How to Pack Lightly
• Tips: Making a Packing List
• The Top 10 Things To Carry With You When You Fly
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I've got to tote reading matter, but a Kindle (or other e-reader) cuts down beautifully on the weight.
Please stop with the ultralight but needing to mooch off the host for shampoo, toothpaste, whatever.
Get a small bottle of tooth powder, a bar of shampoo and a bar conditioner. Either bar will work as soap. Cut the piece to take accordingly.
For a small woman with beyond waist length hair, a shampoo bar the size of a single full size Reese's cup served as soap, shampoo and laundry soap for nine days.
If you use solid deodorant, keep the ends. To travel with them, place the end in the cap with a rubber band (if needed. I haven't needed it, fellow travelers have) around it and you have a very small travel deodorant.
I travel with an iPad, with kindle installed. It works. Heck, on my phone works.
I will pick up a paper book, usually used, for the flight home. Train travel needs much more reading material. (I travel is the western US)
What helps my packing is to keep the list from each trip. When I return, I note what didn't work, what I needed to pick up on the road, what I would have liked.
For example, I packed two pairs of shorts on my last trip. I swim in one with a swim tank top, hike in the other, and wanted to se sure I had dry hiking shorts.
Weight wise, I'm better off getting a modest swimsuit and brining one pair of shorts.
The note on my pack list reads: "get swimsuit. Only one shorts."
I also noted what I wore only once, so I can think about options on my next trip to the same climate.
I keep the notes in my travel bag, since I take only one, and it needs to fit under the seat.
Open the bag to pack, and there are my notes!
If you happen to be travelling by car (road trip?), we've found the clear plastic storage bins make great suitcases. They store a lot, you can see what article of clothing you need from the bottom of the container, and they are stackable.
Dresses for women? Who wears dresses except on a beach vacation?
Packing light (not lightly) is so much easier in the winter, when you can layer. I traveled for a month in Italy, in the cool fall, with one carry-on suitcase...and never had to get anything cleaned. All of the clothing I brought worked together, and I alternated and then eliminated layers as I went through the trip. Everything I brought got used, but I was always clean and well-dressed.
On trips to Hawaii I bring lots of cotton tops because I can go through three a day (beach, hiking, out to dinner) or I do laundry while there. One pair slippers (flip flops) and one pair closed shoes.
Skin and some hair products get priority in the suitcase over clothes, for me. I can buy clothing anywhere I go, but I can't guarantee I'll find my products. Shampoo, though, I will buy at my destination if needed.
And use a duffel bag - they fit more and can easily squish in overhead compartments.
Yay, I love packing light. I have made month long trips with only one rucksack and a small handbag. A suitcase that you can wear as a backpack is vital when visiting old cities with cobblestones or remote villages, because when you are taking public transportation you will likely have several blocks of cobblestones or dirt roads to walk to your hotel.
I love to buy travel sized toiletries (so cute) and always include Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap, which I also use to sink wash clothes if needed. I usually plan for doing laundry once a week, either using the hotel service or a laundromat.
For clothes, it's all practicality and everything I bring is either gray, black or navy. Here's my standard list of things that easily fit in one rucksack:
1 cotton tee dress
5 cute tee shirts with an interesting neckline
1 pair jeans
1 pair of plain pants
1 pair shorts
1 skirt
1 long sleeved dress shirt
1 cardigan
1 blazer
1 waterproof windbreaker
8 pair underwear
5 pair socks
1 pair sandals
1 pair trail runners
1 pair ballet flats
3 scarves
1 pair sunglasses
2-3 great pieces of jewelry
@Rural and Rueful I live in little cotton dresses all summer long. They're comfy and easy - just pick a shoe and go. I'm not sure why you consider dresses a "beach only" thing?
Lots of women wear dresses outside of beach vacations. They fit in almost anywhere you go and you can dress them up on down. I'm not talking about a prom dress but I usually pack 2 dresses, usually cotton blends, along with one pair of jeans and a pair of shorts.
My two favorite travel dresses are a long, super light-weight, blue dress and a knee-length steel grey dress.
Both work for most situations - except maybe hiking.
@ rural & rueful. It is indeed "lightly" and not "light." Check your English usage.
Before the advent of ridiculous carry-on rules, I would bring half-empty bottles of all my toiletries on 3-4 week trips to Germany with my Mom. I'd use them up (or most of them, at least), recycle the bottles, and their absence made room for whatever knickknacks I bought while I was there. Alas, this does not jive with my current policy of avoiding checking bags at all costs. Refillable travel-size bottles it is. Sigh.
Also, check the policies of any hotels you stay in regarding laundry. I was really surprised when I stayed at a small hotel in London that expressly forbade hanging laundry to dry in your room. I was glad I did laundry when I stayed with my family in Germany.
Too right! I recently spent a week Paris and got by wonderfully with 2 shift-style dresses that I alternated. One was cotton knit tank dress and the other a silky tunic style. I washed them by hand - one each night in the sink (it was hot!) - hung to dry and that was it. Along with a pair of great, comfortable flat sandals, a pair of Tom's flats, and two light cardigans, that was it! (Not counting underwear and nightgown.) I couldn't believe I finally packed LIGHT and it worked.
I don't travel much, but I wear dresses almost every day during the summer. Light and much cooler than capri pants (I don't have the figure for shorts). I don't even glance at my jeans until October.
Dresses are the best! One piece is one outfit - so simple! Thanks for the great tips.
Rural and Rueful, I wear dresses all the time! Where do you get the idea that they're for beaches only? I love dresses because you can wear one with cute sneakers in the daytime and walk a whole city, and then just change your shoes and you fit in at almost any non-black-tie evening events. Plus a dress can also double as a skirt - just put a shirt over it and you have a kind of different look!
I love packing, and I think I am pretty awesome at packing light. I can't remember the last time I checked a bag. I was particularly proud of myself last summer when I spent a week in Miami for pleasure, and then flew straight to DC for a week of work. I am a petite woman who likes cute dresses and colorful shorts etc, but I work in stage carpentry where the uniform is black and the pants are bulky, so those are two VERY different wardrobes, and two different environments too (beachfront versus middle of the city). The work shoes were the challenge - steel toe, but not boots at least - but I still managed the two weeks and the two functions with a single carry-on. I was proud.
The key, for me, is to pack wisely. I plan out how to pack trucks for touring shows, as part of my job, and you'd be surprised how much more space you have than you think you do - in almost any bag or container. It's about packing smart almost as much as packing light.
My boyfriend also says that my clothes are smaller than normal people's and that I have an unfair advantage. I'm not so sure about that part...
I'm another who wears dresses pretty much every day of the summer -- and spring, and often into fall and winter, too. (They are great for multi-city travel when you will be changing climates; the same dress that works with sandals in the heat can also work with a cardigan and tights for cooler weather.) For women they are a HUGE boon toward packing light, because it's only one garment instead of two to make an outfit; if you wear dresses for an entire week, that's seven garments to pack instead of 14. So wake up, Rural & Rueful!
Other tips: (1) Consolidate shoes. This is the number one error most people make. Unless you are doing adventure travel or going to something formal like a wedding, chances are you need no more than three pairs of shoes, counting the one on your feet. (2) An e-reader is your travel friend. I still love paper books, but my Nook is a lifesaver on trips. Most are dual-voltage, so you can take them overseas with just a plug converter. (3) Laundry exists everywhere. Hotel dry-cleaning is expensive, but many hotels have machines you can use for far less. Friends you're staying with would be unlikely to object if you did one load of laundry (particularly if you work into chipping in with some other chores). I often choose vacation apartments instead of hotels specifically so I can have laundry. One week's worth of clothes + access to laundry once a week = forever's worth of clothes.
My all-time packing WIN was going to South America for a week with just a carry-on. My hiking trip next month will require a checked bag just because hiking poles and boots are super bulky, but I still plan to minimize.
I read that Helen Mirren (and please forgive me if I've gotten this story wildly incorrect) just packs essentials like undies and such then goes to a thift/charity shop in her destination city to pick up a few things to wear while there and then donates them back at the end of her trip! Good idea in theory...wouldn't work in all situations/cities or body types...but it would be a fun thing to 'practice' on my next trip.
Trupeacenik, I love hosting visitors and do not mind providing them with all sorts of essentials to make travel easier. I enjoy having many options from soaps, shampoos, lotions and robes. I do not consider it mooching and like to show my hospitality, especially since they've taken time to visit me. That being said your ideas are good for someone who is not comfortable using their hosts' stuff.
I like to keep all my travel stuff ready to go - it helps me pack light because i'm never caught short and chucking in All The Toiletries just in case. Here's my method: http://annabelvita.com/2011/09/21/pack-painlessly-every-time/
Pack what you already wear regularly. It is too easy to go shopping for that new piece of clothing to take on a trip and it never gets worn. Been there- done that. .
I travlled around the world with one carry-on. But where do you get bar shampoo and conditioner?
REddd- what a great comment. It reminded me of a weekend trip I made with my daughter. She forgot to pack a sweater so we checked out a few stores in town, but everything was priced at least double to take advantage of tourists. On our way back to the hotel, we passed a giant Salvation Army store-- the largest I've ever seen-- and we went in there. Her prized possession found in there to this day is an Asbury Park hoodie she got for $3. She still gets comments on it all the time since we live in the midwest. (Of course, I thought of Bruce Springsteen, and she thought of Snookie.) It was great to realize that thrift stores can be a solution when traveling.
I wear dresses year round! I love a well-made dress because you can just put it on and go. It's more formal than jeans, can be dressed up or dressed down, and unless it's a very windy day, can be more practical than shorts in hot weather.
As far as packing goes... well, you should always bring your own if you're going out of the country and don't speak the language. It's just safer that way.
I frequently make month or 6 week trips to Europe with one carry-on, and I've been doing it for years. I'll try to list things not already mentioned above.
Suitcases with wheels weigh a lot and it eats into your baggage allowance, plus making them hard to manage. I've tried many different ones, the one I'm currently using is by Eddie Bauer - it's a small rolling duffle, only 6+ pounds empty.
All those cute tempting single use travel items like teeny hair dryers- they are a waste of space and money. Ask at the hotel desk if there's no dryer in your room.
For long trips, I just buy regular sized bottles of shampoo conditioner etc when I arrive. It's kind of fun to use new products and I toss them when I leave. I use that shampoo to wash clothes if I need to.
Shoes: this was a really hard one for me because I love cute shoes, but you really really really need to only pack the same comfortable shoes that you wear all the time at home. Those dressy shoes that go with one outfit - don't take them. You may have to walk several blocks over uneven pavements to a restaurant and it's not worth ruining your trip with blisters or a sprained ankle. Also, I usually throw in a pair of flip flops or similar for wearing around the hotel as slippers.
Clothes: I figure out what activities I will be doing and pick one outfit for each (like hiking, restaurants, shopping, family gathering travel etc.). You can mix and match once you are there, if the things coordinate, but I find that doing it this way helps me limit what I take. I make sure I have one long sleeved top in the summer. I also take one cashmere cardigan (cashmere, because it's warm, but light and takes up little space in a suitcase) that goes with everything and several scarves that are partly for warmth and partly accessories. One blazer or jacket is also useful for warmth, for dressing up a more casual outfit etc.
I take an umbrella that folds to a tiny size instead of a raincoat in the summer months.
my favorite trick, and i live in two different countries is knits, dresses, skirts, sweaters, anything not stiff fabric can be rolled smushed crunched etc. weighs less than regular stuff and when you get there it is wrinkle free and easy to hand wash. also nude lingerie it doesn't show no matter what color you are wearing, as for toiletries any drug store sells 1/2 use mini packets and then you can pick something new and fun to try in a foreign country.
I would love to wear dresses every day. But if one is a "certain age", how do you find one that has sleeves and you can wear a bra with?
I took a trip around the world with only a carry on sized backpack- for 6 months. The best advice I can give is to mail things back to yourself- like souvenirs or gifts people give you. This also helped when we transitioned from hot steamy Asia to cold Europe (I sent a package home with the hot weather clothes, leaving room for a new warm vest). Also in cold weather climates, be sure to carry a hat, it will keep you warmer and is tiny.
I thought I could live without jeans, but no. I missed them too much. Though the travel type stores sell lots of polyester, wearing it is stinky (therefore needing to be washed more). Go for merino and cotton. I especially love merino undershirts, they are very small to pack and also keep you much warmer.
Obleaki - admittedly it is harder to find casual dresses for women over the age of 25/who want to wear bras/who like hems longer than "crotch length," etc. But I have found that through careful shopping, all things are possible. Department stores are useless, for some reason, but I've had good luck at ModCloth (many short dresses but plenty of more reasonable ones), Athleta, Title Nine, Old Navy, J. Jill, Garnet Hill and the like. Also, since little lightweight cardigans are in right now, I sometimes layer one over a sleeveless dress - am wearing that right now, actually!
I love using solid shampoo and conditioners when I travel - they don't take up a lot of space, there's no bottles/liquids to worry about for TSA travel guidelines (not to mention, no fear that changes in altitude will cause your bottles to explode and make messes in your bags), and they're eco-friendly. Plus they last a really long time! I buy mine from Lush - they smell great and work well!
I'm also a huge fan of the Kindle for travel. I've also tipped friends off to the Kindle app for Mac - you're probably going to travel with your laptop anyway, so download the app (for free I believe!) and you can read that 1000 page book without taking up any space!
My tip: Save your ratty underwear! When I was getting ready to go to Florence and Venice for two weeks, I set aside a bunch of underwear that was almost ready to throw out. Each day on the trip, I would just throw away the day's underwear (as well as some socks, and a pair of running shoes at the end of the trip). Your luggage gets a little lighter each day, or you gain that much more space for carrying souvenirs.
@tequila red...so if we're going to be the grammar police...Packing is being used as a gerund (a type of noun) and light being an adjective modifies the noun. Rural and rueful was correct.
obleak1- my best dress finds have been in non-traditional dress departments: sleepwear, and maternity. I find they are sometimes more modest than those in sportswear, even though I am not at all pregnant. The sleepwear ones also have the benefit of being lightweight and easy to pack.
I did not make that comment about grammar, I just said I like dresses.
My favorite tip for traveling lightly (in the US for US folks) is for the return trip. The day before you head back home, swing by the US Post Office, and get one of those "If It Fits, It Ships" boxes large enough to hold most of your dirty laundry. Shove your filthies into the box, and mail it to your home. Your laundry will arrive in a few days, and you take it straight to the washer. And now your luggage has LOTS of room for new clothes, souvenirs, gifts, ...
http://www.etsy.com/search?includes%5B0%5D=tags&q=solid+conditioner&page=1
Options for solid conditioner, if you don't like Lush.
http://www.etsy.com/search?q=solid%20Shampoo&view_type=gallery&ship_to=ZZ&min=0&max=0&includes%5B0%5D=tags
The same, for shampoo.
Although, honestly JR Liggets will do.
Teagirl, I'm glad you love to host, and revel in the details.
However, guests should not assume, and be able to be self sufficient. Airport layover? I can wash my really long hair in a sink. And I have a travel towel!
I have a dear friend who really dislikes patchouli. However, he bought a conditioner with strong notes of it. I did use it, because I have fond memories of a gallon jug of the same conditioner. (I asked first)
He couldn't stand the scent. So I reshowered, and used my own conditioner to rid my hair of his conditioner.
I've done dresses. Catalogs more than stores- think light weight cotton- climate determines sleeve length.
I've also done skirts with tops. I know colder climates enjoy black for their neutral, but southern/warmer climates tend to traditional white or khaki for their go-to neutral color. I prefer khaki because I am a klutz when wearing white.
For packing lists I use a combination of http://www.onebag.com/checklist.html and http://www.travelite.org/?p=259 to create my own perpetual list for summer and winter trips.
I do not pack everything on the list for every trip.
I have used those "a week of outfits from 10 pieces" articles in various monthly magazines. Same magazines did weekend versions as well.
If you limit yourself to 3-4 colors, packing is really easy. Every item from head to toe should coordinate with at least 3 other items. Every thing should be easy care because It. Is. A. Vacation.
I do a minimal makeup kit, too. Sunscreen, night cream, foundation, blush, 1 lip balm, 1 lipstick, makeup remover cloths.
Wearing dresses/skirts or pants or any combination is a personal choice. I have not worn a skirt in at least six years. I bought one for a trip to Egypt. The tags are still on it (never worn). I just don't like them...but to each their own.
If possible, when traveling by air, I like to mail an "if-it-fits..." box to my destination with small sample sizes that I have received when I've bought from certain companies (like drugstore or beauty.com) or from hotel trips (when I go for a long car trip, I take my own toiletries in larger bottles,ones about to be empty, and bring back the hotel sizes to be used for short trips) . I save my face cream jars and refill them with face cream and other products, labeling them with a marker. I only put as much as I think I'll need...then toss the jars when done. When I went to Egypt last year I took undies that I would be tossing in a month or two anyway and socks that were on their last leg. As I wore them, I tossed them. Same on jars and bottles of toiletries. And I took old t-shirts and pants to sleep in and tossed them also. By the time I came home, all the space in my suitcase I had used for these things when going was now space for what I'd bought while there. It pretty much evened out! Plus, by tossing these things, I had less laundry when I came home. I travel with laundry sheets instead of liquid most of the time so I can wash an item here or there in a sink. I don't like to use my shampoo for laundry because it is too expensive, but the hotel shampoo works. Also, sometimes when washing something, you just need to hit the key areas (underarms, crotch...) to freshen it for another wear. It'll dry faster if you target instead of washing the entire piece...
I have lots of mesh, zippered containers I bought at Magellan's that help me to pack efficiently and to unpack easily at my destination. My suitcase is beautiful when packed. ;-)
I have a perpetual packing list on my computer and can open and print it for each trip, revising for that particular trip on the paper copy. If I notice something has changed permanently (like when I had lasik I no longer needed contact supplies), I change that on my master file. Because I have a ten-day trip that I will need to take five times as I earn a degree from a school that is in another city, I have created a separate packing file for that because I need certain items that I never need for other trips. And I have an international list that includes passport and adaptors, etc.
I have some duplicate items I keep in my suitcase at all times such as a preferred comb, brush, compact mirror with magnification, my travel house shoes in a shoe bag. I retire my toothbrush at home 3-4 times a year (I try to remember to do it with the change of each season) and the old one either goes into my suitcase (and I can toss it after a long trip) or it goes with my cleaning supplies to be used and tossed. I do not take a hairdryer. I take very little jewelry. I do lots of black and navy for pants and jackets/sweaters so I can have few shoes (max extra pair, two and then only for a very long trip). My basic tops are usually colorful (red, green, blue, bright pink) and so is the pashmina or two I take. I carry one large purse though I sometimes pack a very small one in case I want to grab out a couple of things for dinner that night and not carry the larger bag.
I have luggage scales to weight my check-in for international flights, so I do not worry as much about that as I used to (also with traveling lighter there is more peace of mind on this).
Practice has helped me to be a better traveler. I am out of town tonight, actually, and have everything in a small rolling tote that I packed very fast. One area I have toned back is books. I am more realistic about what I can actually read when gone, and I remember that there is usually a bookstore somewhere where I can pick up a book or a magazine if I run out of material.
I travel frequently, and dresses are a godsend for light packing. I even have a linen safari-style shirtdress for my bimonthly trips into the jungles.
I once had to leave for an emergency trip that lasted four days within half an hour (long story) I packed a backpack in 15 minutes, got to the train station in time, and didn't want for anything for the entire time. Here's my superspeedy packing ritual:
1. First, grab your travel documents, phone and phone charger and put them in your purse right away.
2. Head to the bathroom with a ziplock bag. Grab essentials, throw into bag/carryon. (p.s. hand towel is an essential)
3. Head to closet, get a spare bra or two, and one pair of underwear for each day of your stay plus two. If staying for over a week, pack at least five. Ziplock them, toss in.
4. I've gotten to the point where I don't pack jeans, but I can understand if people are reluctant. However, they take up too much space for my tastes, and I only take them if I have checked baggage. If travelling to a cold place, I just pack my superthick fleecy tights instead, and wear em under my dresses.
5. Take a long-sleeved buttondown if heading to a hot place (useful for modesty or unshaven pits) or a cardigan if cold place.
6. I've already mentioned that I'm a fan of dresses. I usually pack at least two in neutral colours, one short and one long.
7. If heading to tropical climate, you can ziplock and throw in a pair of flipflops (if buying them there is not possible). If heading to cold place, hang your coat on your doorknob (you have to carry it out later, but you don't want to forget it)
6. I second whoever suggested wearing your daily shoes. I also suggest that your daily shoes should be slipon types, because unlacing is hell while in a serpentine line at JFK. Mine are buttery soft leather boat shoes.
^That there is the bare minimum that I ALWAYS pack first. After that I can get my Kindle, travel pillow, maybe choose some scarves, whatever, but be relaxed the whole time.
Things that never leave my suitcase:
I always keep a ziplock bag with toiletries , which are usually hotel stuff from my last trip. I know I'll never use them at home, but they're great for brushing during a long flight, washing up during a trek etc. so this way I never forget them.
I also get a PJ set and an outfit laundered the day before I head back home, and the hotel will nicely iron and fold them for you (I am terrible at both those things). Pack them in, never unpack. <-- this is probably a little too much for those that don't travel as much but it really destresses me about packing coordinates during the trip because I know I have SOMETHING in there already.
I also have a slim thesaurus that lives in my carryon. It's my reading material for the "switch off all electronic devices" period. I know, it's weird. I also love reading dictionaries but the good ones take up too much space :)
I think I read in a thrift/recycling post once that you should always take the hotel shampoo and conditioner tiny bottles home with you if you don't use them. The hotels are supposed to dispose of them between room rentals. You put those out for your guests and you are out nothing! I always assumed you could wash your hair with a good soap bar and condition it with a good oil soap bar. I think I will start to do that and carry them in small ziplock bags. This will simplfy TSA's rummaging through my luggage I hope.
As suggested by some on here, take things that you won't be upset about leaving behind. I haven't travelled for a while but when I did I would take clothes that I'd had for a while or bought on sale - I never took any favourite items. If need be I could then throw them out or leave them to a thrift store.
I also am a fan of posting things back to yourself, especially books and other unbreakables.
As for shoes, one time I travelled for 10 weeks through 7 countries experiencing everything from freezing Mongolian nights to humid Helsinki days. I got by with 1 pair of hiking boots, one pair of flat sandals and one pair of slip-on massage sandals. The flat sandals were worn to all formal events and teamed with dressy lightweight pants and top looked decent enough even for the opera and ballet. Teamed with shorts they were beachwear. They took up virtually no room in my pack and were thrown out before I returned home. The slip-ons were mostly for inside.
Packing lightly for one adult hardly seems like a challenge... did plenty of travelling before kids and now I find travelling internationally with them or on a camping trip is much tougher!
I'm working it out on paper... but I think somewhere I'll pack a list of what I brought for the kids on our upcoming camping trip. Going to keep it as light as possible... wish me luck!
i cannot for the life of me pack lightly - even though i don't travel to third-world countries, and everything i bring is more than likely available where i end up. I just don't like HAVING to go out and buy something I already have at home once I arrive at my destination.
Seriously, went to San Diego Comic-Con last week and packed more than when I travel overseas where I have to bring multiple business suits and professional attire for each work day!