What to Pack for a Month With One Bag

The temptation, every single time, is to pack for the trip you imagine instead of the trip you will have. The imagined trip has six different evenings out. The real trip has the same three shirts in rotation and you are completely fine with it.

The rule that changed everything for us: pack for one week, then do laundry. A month-long trip and a week-long trip require almost the same bag. The only real difference is one small bag of detergent and the willingness to spend an occasional afternoon at a launderette.

Things worth their weight: a genuinely warm layer even in summer, one pair of shoes you can both walk all day in and wear to dinner, and a flat universal adapter. Things not worth their weight: anything "just in case," and the second book you will not finish the first one.

The bag itself matters less than people think. We have used a cheap one for years. What matters is the discipline of the list — and the quiet confidence, by week two, that you brought exactly enough.