Issue #157: The "5 to 1" Rule for Packing for Any Trip (Really)

Six weeks in a carry-on, no problem.

📺 “Bad Monkey” on Apple TV+: I was certainly too young to read Carl Hiaasen’s Bad Monkey when I swiped it off my dad’s bookshelf in middle school (Hoot, it is not). It’s probably why the unhinged characters based in Miami, Florida—a detective who keeps a victim’s arm in his freezer, the victim’s money-obsessed ex, and a “Dragon Queen”—are forever seared in my memory. Those characters, and the ensemble who play them (including Vince Vaughn, Michelle Monaghan, and Jodie Turner-Smith of ‘Queen & Slim’), remain the best part of this wild ride of an adaptation.

📚 Men Have Called Her Crazy by Anna Marie Tendler: My introduction to Tendler was as “John Mulaney’s wife,” and then the woman he left for Olivia Munn. She was two-dimensional and, in that context, forgettable. Her memoir renders her in her full complexity, beginning with her hospitalization in a psychiatric hospital for intense suicidal ideation and self-harm, before deftly illuminating the ways in which men contributed to her self-concept as “crazy.” I loved it. You can read the first chapter here!

🍑 Peaches and Cream Pie: Last week, friends came over for takeout, and one brought this peaches and cream pie (she keeps a list of everyone’s “favorites,” on her phone and remembered that peach desserts in any form are one of mine!). The cool sweet cream—she doubled the filling—is the perfect vehicle for late summer peaches so ripe she didn’t need to add any sweetener to them. Highly recommend making this one repeat for the final month of summer (!).

This year I’ve gone on (checks notes) approximately one million weekend trips. I’ve never taken so many planes in such a short period of time, thanks to my seven-city book tour, several weddings and bachelorettes, and a handful of girl’s weekends. In the thick of it, I decided to treat each trip like a mini experiment, testing different strategies for packing, including minimizing the clothes and cosmetics I bring, and even honing-in on my plane entertainment strategies (complete with a little “seat back pack”).

Each trip led to the grand finale: a six-week trip to Bali, Lombok, Japan, and South Korea that I’m taking before I head back to my graduate program again in January! If all goes according to plan, by the time you read this, I’ll be en route to Bali toting a carry-on the size of a medium backpack, only half-filled to leave ample space for souvenirs while still bringing everything I’ll need.

Examples from a recent bachelorette in Park City! Left to right: Thursday dinner, Friday morning workout and hike, Friday afternoon into evening

The “5 to 1” packing plan is the kind of thing I’ve seen floating around since the early days of blogging. There are a few ways to do it, but the general idea is to break down the items you’re bringing, by category, counting down from five. So, 5 tops, 4 bottoms, 3 dresses, etc. After trying a few iterations, including this one and this one, I’ve narrowed it down to the packing list, below, worthy of taping to the inside of your closet, a la Joan Didion. This issue is packed (you may need to expand it, or read it in browser)—read on for:

• My “5 to 1” packing formula (including outfit examples and how I applied it to a recent trip)

• Links to every single piece of clothing I’m bringing on this trip

• The outfit I wear for every flight, no matter where I’m headed (and the “seat back pack” I create for long and short flights)

• A minimal approach to packing cosmetics and skincare

• My favorite purse for any trip, the best container for supplements (and what I bring), and other hyper-specific travel tips!