Packing Tips: (Over)Packing for One Week in a Small Duffel Bag

Almost two weeks ago, my youth pastor texted me and asked if I could be a last-minute chaperone for the youth group's annual trip to a Christ In Youth conference. Obviously, I was thrilled and said I'd go. I was then informed that we were only allowed to bring one small duffel bag and one back pack each due to limited space in the van. I'm not going to lie, I was a little worried. I'm an over-packer. Like, I normally take an extra outfit for each day I'll be gone. And when I went on the same trip last year as a student, I took a huge suitcase, so I knew it was going to be a bit of a struggle for me to not only limit what I take, but also to get it to fit into a small duffel bag. I wanted to try and put as little as possible in my backpack because I needed room in that for stuff like my laptop. So after I gathered everything I needed to pack, I decided to go ahead and use the smallest duffel bag I could find in my house because I'm always up for a good challenge. And I was able to fit even more in the bag than I had planned. Here's how I did it:

1. I gathered everything I needed to pack- clothes (8 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of jeans, 6 camis, 8 t-shirts, 1 tank top, and 1 dress) and toiletries (hairbrush, hair ties, headband, toothbrush, full size toothpaste, razor, full size shaving cream, q-tips, tweezers, medications, deodorant, wrinkle release spray, lotion, body spray, and travel size shampoo, conditioner, and body wash). It's always easier to pack when you have everything you need to pack laid out in front of you. This will help you visualize how to best fit everything and will make it less likely that you'll forget something.
2. I put all my toiletries in a zippered pouch. It took a minute to carefully put them in there so they fit, but they all did.
3. I took the pair of jeans and laid them across the bottom of the duffel bag, folded how they are in the picture. They took of virtually no space when I put them in the bag like this, so I thought it would be the smartest way to pack them.
4. I took my toiletry bag and laid it on the left side of the bag with the zippered side facing the inside of the duffel bag. You always want to put the heaviest and largest stuff at the bottom. This makes it easier to squeeze smaller items in around it later.
5. I took my 3 pairs of jean shorts, rolled them, and placed them in the bag next to my toiletry bag. I repeated this step with the rest of my shorts and placed them on top of the jean shorts. When this step was finished, the shorts were at the same height as the toiletry bag.
6. I rolled all my shirts, camis, and tank top and put them side by side on top of the toiletry bag and shorts.
7. I then rolled my dress and put it on top of my shirts, along the back of the duffel bag.
8. After this, I still had a good amount of extra space I hadn't planned for on the top of the bag, so I was also able to fit my bathing suit, my hair straightener (inside of it's case), and 6 washcloths (I did this after I took the picture).
9. For those of you who may be wondering, I put all my socks, underwear, and bras in the zippered pouch built into the side of the bag.

I still over packed a little because I only needed to take enough stuff for 5 days and nights since we left Monday and came back Saturday, but I didn't over pack as much as I normally do. Plus, over packing makes me feel a little extra secure because I always have something extra to wear if I spill or rip something or one of my sisters "forgets" a certain shirt and has to borrow one of mine. When it was all said and done, everything fit and the bag zipped shut without a single problem.