The maxim that travellers should pack less than they think they need is correct on the data and is unfollowed by most travellers. Smaller, more deliberate packing produces better travel experience than the larger packing alternatives, across most categories of trip.

The approach

The approach is to pack a small set of pieces that combine well across multiple outfits, in fabrics that survive travel without requiring formal pressing, and in colours that work together. Three or four bottoms; five or six tops; one outer layer; one set of more formal pieces if the trip requires; appropriate shoes for the planned activities; the underwear and basics for the trip's length.

What this allows

What the smaller packing allows is the kind of mobility that the larger packing prevents. Carry-on travel; faster transit between destinations; less time managing baggage; more attention available for the actual travel.

What it requires

What it requires is the willingness to do laundry during the trip and to wear the same pieces multiple times. Both are operationally trivial; the cultural resistance to them is the principal obstacle.

The honest read

The honest read is that travellers who commit to smaller packing report meaningfully better trip experiences than those who do not. The reports are consistent across many categories of trip and across many travellers. The pattern is too consistent to be coincidence.