How to pack a week of outfits in one backpack

Can you pack a week of outfits into one backpack? Yes! Even if you’re not in college, schlepping from hostel to hostel with a few stale croissants crammed in your hoodie pockets: yes. Even if your itinerary calls for a spectrum of casual to elegant: yes. Here's how:

• One skirt

• One dress

• One jeans (alternate: pants you love)

• Black top (because black always looks elevated and hides travel splashes and drips)

• White top (because white matches anything and brightens your eyes and smile)

• Black sweater or other layer

• Sandals

• White sneakers

You can mix and match these pieces more ways than you'll probably be able to wear in one week. The goal here is that great both/and of simplicity and style. Simplicity frees you— literally, of unnecessary stuff, but also of the internal clutter of having to manage stuff. Style can free you, too; the better you feel, the more able you will be to stop thinking about how you look and wholly immerse yourself in the present moment.

• *Eyelet dress—pockets!—that feels feminine and special

• *A silky red slip skirt that looks fantastic in photos and is blessedly low-maintenance  

• **Elevated tees that won’t lose their shape (because you're not in college anymore)

• Straight ankle jeans that flatter every body and resist trends (looking at you, baggy jeans puddling on the ground)  

• Light sweater with a pretty bell sleeve and open detail in the back  

• Silk scarf with a muted print adds a lot of style bang for your buck

• *Merino socks that keep your feet happy and dry  

• *No show socks that won’t make you lose your mind with constant slipping  

• **Beloved, versatile Saltwater sandals  

• *Waterproof white sneakers to take you anywhere

• *Thin cotton undershirts to protect your tops and sweaters so you can rewear

• French-chic rattan and leather crossbody

• *Gold plated hoops with just a little edge  

• *And of course, the perfect travel backpack

• P.S. *I own and love this item; **I own and love this item so much I bought it in multiple colors!

And two more strategies for packing minimally, with versatility and style:

• Identify how you want to feel on your trip—casual chic? date-nightish? funky? colorful? minimal? fancy? sporty? If your trip will include special photos, try to identify how you want to feel in those, too. If you focus on how you want to feel on your trip, this will help you streamline and eliminate pieces that don't serve this end, as well as avoid random packing, overpacking, and unnecessary panic-shopping (aka overspending).

• Draw your potential packing list and then draw all the outfits you can make with those pieces. I make packing sketches for our trips, and I always end up taking several things out of my bags when I realize how little I need to make lots of great combinations. Bonus: your packing sketch will be a sweet souvenir.

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For this reason man may not despise his bodily life. Rather he is obliged to regard his body as good and to hold it in honor since God has created it and will raise it up on the last day. +Pope Saint Paul VI