I Tried to Pack like a Minimalist, and It Worked… Kinda

Trying to find cheap flights for a multi-city trip isn’t my favorite thing in the world, but if you’re trying to stay on a budget, it’s necessary. Spirit Airlines is a great deal if you’re willing to ditch undercarriage luggage. My flight from CA to VA was $176, from VA to MA $69, and from MA to CA $204. Altogether it was $449, not bad. But their rules are a little strict. You can only have one free carry on, and nothing is complimentary on the plane. That being said, if you’re just hopping place to place and don’t need bags, or snacks, you’ll be just fine. Since I was flying several different places, choosing something cheap and restrictive was better for our budget than taking extra luggage. And I didn’t really need the luggage. I just wanted the extra storage space.

Instead, it forced me to really examine what I wanted to bring. Originally, I had a curated outfit for each day, several pairs of shoes, makeup, and extra hair supplies. However, not all of these would fit into my bag. Instead, I carefully chose what I was going to wear to the airport: a t-shirt, shorts, and nice sandals that matched all my outfits. And then I packed the rest of my things: an EB White anthology, my bible, two dresses, shorts, yoga pants, toiletries, and three shirts into my small duffle. With the remaining space, I loaded up a smaller bag with my wallet, charger, headphones, another book, and toothpaste and tucked it on top of the clothes. That way I could easily access things in the terminal. The system worked out well*.

Next year, I’m nixing the books because they’re too heavy and I didn’t use them enough to justify the storage space they took up. I always have these grandiose ideas that I’m going to read on the plane, or that a vacation will suddenly make me studious, but I always end up sleeping and then I never actually read them in the evening. So next time, I’m going to accept that I will never be that kind of reader and just take what I will use.

I’m also going to replace one of the pairs of shorts with a pair of pants and add tennis shoes to my flight necessities. Massachusetts was much cooler than Cali, and several evenings when we went walking, I wanted both items. The pants to warm me up, and the tennies because walking around with no arch support for a week wreaked havoc on my knees. Not something I want to repeat.

Overall though, my first minimalist packing trip went really well. I didn’t feel like I had under packed; the items that I didn’t bring, I made a conscious choice not to bring. I didn’t realize how much people enjoyed taking walks into town, or how cool it got in the evening. So I’m changing my list to fit the needs of the event.

Each dress was worn about three times, and if I’m being honest, that’s how many times my work clothes at home get worn before a wash, so it didn’t really change all that much from my usual routine. Afterward, I’d slip into something more casual to go walk around with everyone. And then I wore yoga pants and another tee to bed each night.

Some of it was a little weird though, a girl there told me that I was her “fashion icon” for the week because I always wore cute clothes (I mean, who says you can’t be stylish AND pack lightly). It made me worry that she would notice and judge the repeat outfits, but I don’t think she did. Or if she did, she didn’t say anything.

Despite that, it was actually quite freeing because I didn’t have to think much about what I wore. I could roll out of bed 15 minutes before breakfast, grab an outfit, run a comb through my hair and start the day. On other trips I’ve taken, I’ve waaay overpacked, and come back with clean clothes. This time, everything was worn, but not overworn. If the trip were much longer, say 10 days instead of 8, I’d have to add an outfit or two. But as it was, I didn’t mind really. I’m definitely going to incorporate this practice into my future trips.

What about y’all? How do you pack for trips?

*It worked out well until one of the bags got stolen on Massport Transit. If I had only had one bag, this wouldn’t have happened, but you live and you learn.

Posted in minimalism

Moriah Joy

Moriah Chace founded this site in 2018 to narrate the money journey she and her husband were on. After their divorce, she pivoted and is now tackling living well on a low income budget. She is currently the editor at Poorer than You. And she has words in Live Better, Deal Taker, and EcoFrugals. As part time barista and a full time coffee addict, she currently attends UTA for a master's in Civil Engineering and wants to change the world one high speed train at a time.

I Tried to Pack like a Minimalist, and It Worked… Kinda

Moriah Joy

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