HOW TO: Pack Efficiently – 3 days • 2 nights • 1 Personal Item.

I just got back from a short weekend trip with my boyfriend to celebrate a birthday of one of his friends. Destination: Denver. Yes, we went back to Colorado (video diary coming soon). But this time, we had plans of less dispensaries and more museums. Since it was a short trip, we flew Spirit which is on the more affordable end of air travel. Despite their bad rep, this is my second time flying with them and I have no complaints at all. Even with their carry on bag fee (& many other optional fees), I have had no issue. On my first flight with Spirit (to Florida in October), I only took a personal item, which is free! I was kind of worried it would be too big but once I got to the airport and placed my bag in the little personal item/carry on size limit thing, I had a ton of space left. So of course on this trip, I opted for the free personal item option and packed for our 3 day, 2 night trip. Here’s how I did it!Okay, so to start, here’s the backpack I used. The brand is Everest and it actually belonged to my boyfriend before he decided to get a new one and almost threw this one away! Since I had such a pleasant experience with it for my Florida trip, I couldn’t let him trash a perfectly usable travel bag. He got it in the fashion district when we went to Los Angeles a while ago. It was $20 and a pretty decent buy. It has 2 pockets on the sides and one larger front pocket. The main section is closed by the buckled flap and drawstring and is pretty spacious.

I added a few more close up shots of the different parts of the backpack so you can get a better feel for it. It’s a very rugged backpack and is perfect if you want to pack a lot of things but don’t want to carry a ton of bags or check in luggage on your trip.

In the biggest pocket which is at the front of the backpack, I put 5 or 6 pairs of underwear, 1 bra and 3 pairs of socks (they were new and still together in the package). Along with the funny trick, putting your underwear in the most accessible part of your bag is handy just in case of any female mishaps that may happen as you’re travelling. Ladies, you get it. In one side pocket, I packed my wallet, our boarding passes, pens and a marker. You don’t absolutely NEED to carry your wallet or pens and markers but have you ever needed a pen and not had one, or carried your ID and cards but happened to forget that ONE thing that’s sitting in your wallet at home? Exactly. I also carry a ton of pens with me in my purse so I just developed the habit of having one with me at all times. You’ll see that I also have a green comb in there. It fit very easily behind everything in this pocket so it made sense to simply keep it there. Things you don’t see that were also in this pocket were a pack of gum and a lip balm. I usually think of what I would need most often as I’m travelling and these items made the list.I did plan on doing something to my hair, so instead of throwing my hair band anywhere in my bag, I wrapped it around the teeth of my comb so that it was secure and easy to find when I needed it. Nobody has time to be wondering where hair accessories are on vacation. Save that stress for normal day-to-day life.On the opposite side of my wallet pocket were my toiletries. My boyfriend taught me a way to figure out exactly what I need to bring when travelling: go through your morning/night routine and pack everything that you’ll need for it, and I added on to that. With that said, here’s how I packed this side. This is 95% of what I use on a daily basis while getting ready. I didn’t carry toothpaste because I had no travel sized one so in that case, I usually just stop at a Target or Walmart when I reach my destination and grab a travel one. I also carried some pads with me because woman. I used a gallon sized Ziploc bag and positioned everything in a way that would allow the bag to fold in half and fit neatly in the side pocket. Since it was a personal item, I didn’t have to worry about any of the items opening and spilling during travel so I decided putting them all in one Ziploc bag would be fine — and it was!Now for the inside! I rolled all of my clothing! This trick is widely known for saving space and it does! Although, travelling back, I folded them flat and it may or may not have been more roomy — it’s your call! Both work for me and all the clothes that I carried fit perfectly. I’m not a fashionista and I usually go for what’s comfortable, especially when I’m on vacation. I pick clothes I know I’m able to spend the majority of the day in. FYI: one of the t-shirts and the sweatpants were to sleep in so yes, PJs are included. I also wore a very heavy coat (even though it was not that cold in Denver) and Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers. If you’re travelling to a cold place and want to pack light, focus less on heavy pieces of clothing and more on layers. You can carry multiple layers of clothing that take up way less space and just wear the heaviest, thickest items on the plane. I packed a notebook and a magazine as well for something to do on the plane (reading, planning, etc.).I also did not need this scarf! The weather in Denver was very enjoyable but better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. This was a very thick and long scarf and actually took up a good amount of room in my backpack but I used it to separate my clothing from the only other pair of shoes I carried — which I also did not need. These sat right at the top of my backpack on top of my scarf. I also did not wear these but I took them in case we went anywhere remotely fancy. But luckily I got to keep my Chucks on all weekend. This is how my bag looked all packed up. I was able to carry it around with no problem. I carried clothes that I didn’t wear and even things I didn’t need. I’d definitely challenge myself and say that I could fit more things in here for another day or two worth of vacation.