One Bag: Using A Packing List

If you are a frequent traveler, you may have come across the fantastic/ridiculous (depending on your point of view) web site called OneBag.com. It is where I go to dream of a perfectly organized trip, where you use every single thing you packed and you packed every thing you couldn't do without. Here is an except from one of the many insightful pages:

"One Bag: Using A Packing List: "What To Pack > Using A Packing List

To know what to leave out and what to put in; just where and just how, ah, that is to have been educated in the knowledge of simplicity.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Arguably the most important aspect of intelligent travelling is the issue of what to pack. This, more than anything else, will determine the size of your luggage, the weight of your load, and the state of your happiness. Your top priority, then, should be the acquisition, personalization, and use of a good packing list. 'What to pack' is far too important to make up as you go along!

The world is awash with packing lists. Dozens have appeared on the Internet, and almost any travel store will happily supply you with what usually amounts to a list of the many things you might buy from them. And therein lies the fault of most lists: they enumerate the possibilities, rather than eliminate the liabilities. A list of stuff you might want to take is very different from a list of things you can't travel (comfortably) without. Even the venerable Universal Packing List is intended to be exhaustive; author/maintainer Mats Henricson uses a much shorter list for his actual travels.
Do I Really Need a Packing List?

It's not possible to overstate the importance of actually creating (or adopting) a personal packing list, and using it regularly. "