I'm a chronic overpacker. At least I was, until I moved a plane ride away from home and realized I can't be checking my bag every time I go somewhere! Thankfully, I've streamlined the process quite a bit, though I'm always looking for tips and tricks to pack even less. You have to be able to get your rollerbag into the overhead bin, after all! Thankfully, Refinery29 wrote a post just as I was leaving with some really excellent tips that I was able to put into practice for this trip.
First, you should be thinking of your trip wardrobe in terms of items, not outfits. This goes against how I had been packing in the past. Oops. But, it was actually kind of helpful. Second, count the number of days you're traveling. For this trip, I was going to be in California for 9 days, not counting my 2 travel days. I divided that number by 5, rounded to the nearest whole number (2) which gave me the number of dresses I would pack. Then multiply that number by 3 to get the number of tops and bottoms you should bring (6).




Then came the necessities. I knew we were going camping on Lake Tahoe, where it would get cold during the night. Therefore, I needed to bring appropriate clothes along, even though they took up more room. We also planned to spend some time on the beach, so a bathing suit (I brought 2 just in case), cover up, and hat were necessary.
I packed lightly in terms of shoes. Thankfully, the summer means sandals are always appropriate, so flip flops and a pair of dressier sandals did the trick. I also had to lug my hiking shoes along because of the camping trip.



