Resisting temptation to over-pack

Good luck! The thing that has helped me most is when traveling I pick my shoes, sweater/jacket if cold weather, and purse and anything I pack has to work with all of them. Since my home wardrobe is allll over the place the capsule approach makes it easier to say something can’t come.

I don’t even bother when we are taking a domestic car trip! Pack what you want! You don’t have to have it weighed or measured nor do you have to schlep it on a train.

Ditto to what Laurel said! :O)
We view our road trips (most of which are 2-3 weeks in length) as a vacation from having to limit our flight baggage; we can take whatever we think we'll use. If anything, the only concern is making it efficient as possible to move it in and out of accommodations; a storage tub - not a HUGE one - is helpful for containing a lot of loose items.

There is no try, there is just do. So very hard verses not so hard is all the same at the end.
2 to 5 to a dozen. That is broad range. Everyone eventually reaches the point where even they can see the absurdity of the numbers. How far over a dozen can you go?

khansen, I agree with Kathy and Laurel. When I pack for a road trip, anything goes. I don't need to deprive myself, and it's always easy to find laundromats (if I'm not staying with family), so why pack light? ☺

When I fly, I am ruthless about what I take and keep it very light. With road trips though, I have a much harder time and tend to throw in random stuff. We head to the WA coast next weekend and I am already trying to think of what I will take.

I am thinking good thoughts, as you try to go lighter. I have made the attempt, two weeks in Europe, with just one carry on roller bag. It worked out for me But I'm a guy, and clothing is just two of this and that, that one wears in public.

My wife can not be convinced to travel light and maxes out her big check-in and her carry-on, for every possible situation, no matter how many times I replay Rick's pack light video. She is a costume designer by trade. We have to sit on these to even get the zippers closed, and often we'll have to repack her stuff, as they are over weight. She has gone through 4 sets of luggage as the zippers fail and seams blow out. I'm still on the same set I bought in 2004.
After the first three times of me packing light and her packing heavy, it didn't matter, if I packed light, cause she would want to buy Fabric and Fashion Mags. If lost luggage, we still have to be there to deal with it together. As a team, everyone has to be on the same page if packing light, to reap the benefits. So I very lightly pack the big check-in now, also, as 'overflow,' for the return legs. It makes her happy, to have the extra space, and this in turn, makes me happy to be her travel partner. :)

Here are my good thoughts and wishes.

Hey, less stuff means easier loading/unloading of your vehicle, less stuff to dig through before you find the essential thing you want, and with a lighter load, you’ll even get better gas mileage!

Practice makes perfect, and that includes packing less stuff, as opposed to more. If 2 is good, 5 is y necessarily better, but maybe 3 is acceptable. Have a great extended weekend!

We took a 4 week road trip this past spring, and I did pack light on the clothing, BUT instead of using travel toiletries, I threw the bottles/tubes of stuff I use at home into a flat-bottomed oilcloth bag. It didn't take up much room, but it saved me the time spent decanting the lotions and potions into travel-sized bottles. And I allowed myself 4 pairs of shoes so I had a back-up if my hiking shoes got too wet.

I understand packing for your road trip as a test for International travel. I suggest you pack your carryon bag and personal item as if you are flying. Try to be strict with yourself, but thorough. Then pack an extra bag with all your questions. That way, you will have more if you made a mistake. Just try not to go into that second bag.

Tropical Disturbances! Yikes!
We Floridians will give you an evacuation checklist several pages long. Do you have a trailer to hitch to your vehicle? How about a motor home? Gas cans and pet food?

Sun baked, thinking of you and all of our florida cohort

Thanks Doric.
Actually, I am in one of the best places in Florida to take a hurricane. We did well. Past hurricanes were harder on us. The west coastline is where all the destruction and hurt is. We Floridians feel worse for the Hurricane Helene victims to the North of us. Samaritan’s Purse and the Dolly Parton fund for Hurricane Helene are probably two of the best funds for donations.

Just remember, Nobody has ever gone on a trip and said, I wished I packed more.

"Just remember, Nobody has ever gone on a trip and said, I wished I packed more."

Actually, I have on occasion wished that I had packed more. I try to pack carry-on only (although sometimes will check my carry-on bag). But there have been a handful of times that I wished I had packed something that I "almost" packed but left at home. In those cases, I've either made do with what I had, or gone ahead and bought what I needed while I was at my destination.

Yeah, I am on a trip now where I wished I had packed a hat and a more serious scarf.

I have thought about buying both, but every time I look, I find myself unable to make myself pay €40 or so for things I have at home, where I will be in a few days.

So yes, I do actually wish I had packed more.

Kim, what is a more serious scarf? One that eats muesli and watches PBS?

I am getting ready to leave for three weeks in India and Nepal and the struggle is real. We will be going from temps in the 80’s to mountain temps in Nepal. I need the three weeks lead time to get it figured out.

In January 2020 we took a 5 week driving trip from Washington State through Oregon, California, Arizona, Utah, Idaho and back home. We had the 75 lb. dog with us who effectively took up the entire cargo area of our Subaru Outback (yes, we are from Western Washington). What I learned: you do not need to bring a 35 lb bag of dog food. Hauling 35 lbs of dog food in and out of a car is a pain in the rear end (and other places). But you do need to bring a second dog bed if you don't want to haul the dog bed in an out of the car. Because of said dog we kept our personal belongings light, essentially enough clothes for a week, planning to do laundry along the way. And as someone mentioned upthread, we brought full size toiletries, no micro-tubes of toothpaste for us. In the summer of 2020, during the height of lockdown we drove from Washington to Minnesota, again with the dog, minus the 35 lbs of dog food but unfortunately, also minus the second dog bed. That lesson had yet to be ingrained. We also hauled all of our camping gear in the roof top carrier because of well, the lockdown. Again our personal non-dog/non-camping belongings were light since we had an AirBnB waiting for us in Minneapolis and we made the drive in 2 nights. This coming summer we plan on driving from Washington to Massachusetts. I'm already starting to think of what we will need to pack in the Outback. We'll probably take 2 weeks to make the cross-country drive and have the 75 lb, 4-legged ball and chain. We'll bring 2 weeks worth of dog food, a second dog bed but probably more than 2 weeks worth of clothes for ourselves since we'll be there for an undetermined amount of time. I just hope we won't need the roof box.

I feel pretty good about how I packed for my extended weekend road-trip even though my bag was stuffed tight as a tick.

Wore:
Stretch Jeans,
SS cotton t-shirt &
LS challis button down,
1 cotton bra,
1 pr micro-fiber underwear,
1 pr nylon blend socks,
Teva shoes,
1 waist-pack.

Warmed up more than I expected, so was glad to be able to take off the LS shirt.

In my “carry-on” sized suitcase I packed:

1 pr stretch jeans,

1 pr black dress pants – polyester,

1 cotton LS tee (just in case it was cooler). It wasn’t cooler.

3 pima cotton SS polos,

1 ¾ sleeve dressier button-down blouse – cotton blend,

1 SS dressier knit top – cotton blend,

1 nightgown - cotton,

7 pr micro-fiber underwear,

1 cotton blend bra,

1 pr compression socks,

1 pr black sheer knee-his – didn’t use,

1 pr black opaque knee-his – didn’t use,

5 pr black low cut socks,

1 pr SAS black sneakers. Dressier than regular walking shoes. Only wore them on the 2 dressier days.
1 cross-body mini purse for the dressier events,

Wrist brace.

Toiletry bag that went into the “carry-on” bag:

2-oz shampoo,

2-oz conditioner,

2-oz Dove liquid,

2-oz Anti-Frizz cream,

1-oz Anti-Frizz lotion,

Hairbrush,

3 contact lens cases with face cream, neck cream and coconut oil,

1 small tube eye cream,

Toothbrush,

Floss stix,

Sample size toothpaste,

Lotion,

Medicated powder,

3-oz bottle liquid Cheer,

1 Therma-Care heat wrap,

1 universal stopper,

1 pk oil face blotters,

7-sheet pk Neutrogena facial cleanser wipes,

Make-up kit – mascara, blush gel, powder.

In a large zip-loc:

1 large 7-day Rx/Supplement box for AM,

1 small 7-day Rx/Supplement box for PM,

1 box Covid test kits (just in case).

In 9-liter sling bag:

2 in 1 tablet,

Cords & plugs,

Notepaper in a plastic sleeve,

Pen, pencil,

Slender Flashlight,

First -Aid kit – Band-aids, alcohol swabs, gauze pads, Neosporin tube, Cortaid tube, individual hand-wipe pkts, mole-skin, tweezers, folding scissors. I need to get some foil packets of the Neosporin and Cortaid. Didn’t need anything 1st-aid wise.

Emergency OTC Med kit – Pepto, Imodium, Benedryl, Advil. Didn’t need any.

Comfort kit – Coco butter stick, mints, Kleenex packs, bandana, floss-stix, hand sanitizer, hand wipe pkts and more – I could probably be more selective about this kit.

Threw into the car:
Light-weight jacket,
Cokes,
Water,
Hiking stick,
Sun Hat.

I also had a rolling crate for my genealogy stuff.

Forgot or wish I had:

Good Tweezers,

Magnifying lighted mirror,

Lightweight jeans – the days warmed up more than I expected,

Another SS t-shirt.

Decided not to pack/didn’t fit:

Shower shoes – very light-weight, but too bulky. Luckily the low-step shower room I had has a pretty good non-slip surface. I still used a washrag to stand on.

Considering adding to packing list:

Short extension cord – the plug on the bedside table was on the bottom of a genie-bottle shaped lamp. My folding plug for my phone didn’t fit, so my phone (alarm clock) had to go on the desk across the room in order to re-charge overnight. Grrrrr.

Again, I feel pretty good about how I packed.

I need to look for lighter weight, less bulky clothes.

I wish merino wool companies had more colors than black, navy, dark grey, light grey, brown and tan for tops.

I don’t like synthetics. Cotton farmer’s girl here. See my clothing choices above. Synthetics get too hot and sweaty.

Then I did a shorter weekend trip in a 30-liter underseater & 9-liter sling. See next post.

For my 2nd weekend road-trip, the duration was shorter & weather cooler. Activities were inside, but it is always COLD at this event.

Luggage was a 30-liter rolling underseater. Plus the 9-liter bag and the stuff that gets thrown the car.

Wore:

Jeans

SS Polo

Tevas

Bra

Panties

Socks

Windbreaker w/ fleece lining

Packed:

1x Jeans

1x LS tee

1x SS tee

1x LS challis button down

4x panties

4x socks

1x nightgown

Toiletry kit - Plus good tweezers. Still looking for the really logical location I put my compact mirror.

Rx boxes in a zip-loc

Shower shoes

9-liter bag & car stuff.

The rolling underseater was full, but not so full that it was difficult to zip.

Sorry about all the extra line spacing. Still trying to figure out how to make the actual look like the preview here.

Trotter--I laughed so hard at your post, only because I can relate! We have two big dogs, and just got home today from Westport. I take bags of "dog sheets" that I use to cover all the furniture in the cottage, and numerous towels, etc. Extra food just in case. And this is for two dogs! Even the dog hammock in the back seat of the truck could not handle all of the fur and sand from this weekend, so my husband is out detailing the inside now, lol. Thankfully we also have neoprene seat covers. Ironically, we came home to a huge box of dog food from Chewy sitting at our door;)

what is a more serious scarf? One that eats muesli and watches PBS?

Hahahahaha love this, doric8!!!

I meant a wool scarf in place of the more spring-appropriate cotton scarf that I actually brought with me.

But I really like the idea of considering this serious scarf !!!

mikliz, on the trip through the Southwest we stopped at one of those car washes where you get free vacuum time. Boy did we get our money's worth!!