*for someone with exactly my preferences and constraints. for everyone else, this guide is much more comprehensive.
i travelled itinerantly for about a year. now, it usually takes me about 10-20 minutes to pack, from start to finish.
- count the number of mornings, not the number of nights or days. you sleep in your underwear, or nothing — the thing that actually matters is how many times you’re getting dressed
- pack at least one extra underwear and pair of socks. also, pack 1.2x underwear & 1.2x pairs of socks per morning, rounded down.
- quantity of underwear = 1 + round_down(1.2(number of mornings))
- bring melatonin, partially as a hypnotic (if short term), but mostly as a chronotic (if medium-long term).
- bring a trash bag for dirty clothes.
- the only way to not overpack is to have underpacked a few times. 🤷♂️ it’s not that bad
- bring more sweaters and fewer tshirts
- put your heavy stuff in carryon and lighter stuff in your backpack
- most of the work in packing comes from:
- having a really good model of what you’ll be like when selecting clothes in the morning
- having a good wardrobe that you like
- …to the extent that you don’t already have those two, packing for a trip becomes MUCH more difficult