Packing light for a long weekend

Three days away should not need a suitcase. Most of what people pack for a long weekend comes home unworn, and the rest could have been a size smaller. We have spent a few summers testing this on the train to Glenwood Springs, on drives to Moab and over one very wet weekend in the San Juans, and the answer is always the same: one soft bag, a short list and a few rules.

Start with the bag

A 40 L bag is the right size for three days. It is big enough for everything on the list below, small enough to carry on your shoulder through an airport and sized for the overhead bin on most flights. Anything bigger invites you to fill it.

We use the Canvas Weekender, because it stands open on a bed while you pack and squashes down under a train seat when you do not need it. A soft bag matters more than a particular bag. A hard case forces you to pack to its shape; a soft one takes the shape of what you put in.

Look for a shoulder strap as well as handles, so you have both hands free for tickets and coffee, and at least one zipped pocket inside for the things you cannot lose.

The list we actually use

This is the list that lives on the studio noticeboard. It assumes you travel in one outfit and pack the rest, and that you can wash a T-shirt in a sink if you need to.

What	Weight
Wear: chinos, a T-shirt, the Field Overshirt, sneakers	worn
Two more T-shirts and one shirt for dinner	1.3 lbs
One knit, such as the Everyday Crewneck	1.1 lbs
One pair of shorts or a second pair of chinos, depending on the forecast	0.9 lbs
Three pairs of socks and three sets of underwear	0.7 lbs
Something to sleep in	0.4 lbs
A light rain jacket, rolled small	0.7 lbs
A toiletry pouch with travel-size bottles	1.1 lbs
Chargers, one cable per device, and a paperback	1.1 lbs
A steel bottle, filled after security	0.9 lbs
The Canvas Weekender itself, empty	3.5 lbs
In the bag	11.7 lbs

That is the whole list. It fits in the Weekender with room left for something you buy while you are away.

The trick that makes a short list work is color. If every top goes with every bottom, three tops and two bottoms make six outfits. Choose two or three quiet colors, such as olive, stone and navy, and one that you like to wear next to your face. Leave out anything that only works with one other piece.

Knitwear is what people overpack most. One good knit is enough for three days: wear it on the cold evening, tie it over your shoulders on the warm one and use it as a pillow on the train home.

The same goes for shoes. One pair of comfortable sneakers can go to a café, up a hill and to most restaurants. If you need something smarter, wear the bulky pair and pack the flat one.

How to pack it

Rolling or folding matters less than people think. What matters is order. We pack in three layers:

• At the bottom, the heavy, flat things: shoes in a cloth bag, the knit, chinos
• In the middle, the soft things, rolled: T-shirts, socks, underwear, sleepwear
• At the top, what you need on the way: the waterproof, the toiletry pouch, the book

Chargers and documents go in the inner zip pocket, so you never have to unpack to find them. If you are flying, put the toiletry pouch at the very top so it comes out in one move at security.

Leave a little air at the top. A bag packed to the zip is hard to close, hard to repack in a hurry and has no room for the jar of honey from the market, which is how most of our weekends seem to end.

What we leave at home

The hardest part is not packing. It is not packing. These are the things we used to bring and stopped:

A second pair of shoes “just in case”. A hairdryer, because every hotel and most flats have one. A laptop, unless the weekend is really for work. Guidebooks, when a phone does the same job. Three books, when you will read one. An outfit for an occasion that is not on the plan.

If you forget something, you can almost always buy it where you are going. That thought alone makes the bag lighter.

When you get home, empty the bag straight away, even if you do not unpack anything else. Waxed canvas is happy to be damp for an evening but not for a week, and a bag that is empty on the hook is a bag that is ready for the next trip.