Our S, the most minimalist packer I know has switched to pretty much all ex officio and similar for his underwear. He just loves how well they pack and launder quickly and dry super fast. I haven’t made the switch as I don’t travel nearly as much (and I’m too cheap).
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Those are exactly the changes I was planning to make. Add joggers and sweatshirt. Drop dress. Joggers and sweatshirts are nice for lounging around and reading on chilly nights.
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Wouldn’t wearing the bulkier athletic shoes give you more space in your baggage? Also, if you are taking airline flights with connections, the athletic shoes can help you run to the next gate when your flight is late and you have 5 minutes to run to the other terminal before the flight you are connecting to closes the airplane door.
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Haha, yes of course it would be better to wear the athletic shoes and pack the sandals. But as I am apparently very vain, I do the opposite! @ucbalumnus don’t try to make sense of it, because there isn’t any! 
@MACmiracle this has been a fun exercise. I’m going to my mom’s at the end of August. It’s made me think of what I am going to pack. It’s going to be warm there and mom likes to keep her air conditioning high, so I won’t have to worry about bringing a sweatshirt 
. But the temperatures you’ve described are our mostly normal conditions. And that’s easy because we’ve gone away a fair number of weekends this summer.
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Well, because we are sharing our traveling secrets … I wear pantiliners to make my underwear last a second day if needed, switching out the liner each day.
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I do the same. 
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You can get microfiber underwear from ordinary name brands (Hanes, Fruit of the Loom, etc.) that are available at Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc. that dry nearly as fast as Ex Oficio for a fraction of the price.
@Macmiracle - good for you in tackling this challenge! I shifted to carryon only many years ago and most of the hints I’d have offered are mentioned above - use packing cubes, pick a basic color palette to mix and max and use accessories to add color (lightweight scarves are great). For me, the hardest thing was limiting the number of shoes to bring because I do love my shoes. But I love not having to wait for luggage and knowing that my bag will arrive at my destination even more.
Have fun on your trip!
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Yep! I have the microfiber Hanes, and Fruit of the Loom. They are terrific and light weight, and take up almost no space in a suitcase or backpack.
@deb922 I never wear tie shoes when I fly. Too big a PITA to take on and off going through TSA. Sorry…but it is. I pack my sneakers too…and wear either sandals or TOMS.
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“Another packing cube fan. Also roll your clothing.” - Ditto.
You could make the argument to pack the larger athletic shoes on the way vacation, then wear them if needed on the way home if contents have “expanded” with less careful packing (or souvenirs bought). LOL - I once flew home from vacation in a long beachy jumper worn over long cotton pants…paired with running shoes. It was probably the year I found some nice items at the thrift shop near our rental house.
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I’m amazed so many like rolling their clothes. H and I both tried it for a few trips and weren’t impressed at all. We don’t use cubes either… no need.
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I roll. My Eagle Scout taught me that.
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I sometimes roll and sometimes don’t. The trick is just to be very careful about what you pack. It’s on to rewear a shirt, pants, jackets, etc. Really it’s not a fashion show.
After every trip, re-evaluate what was and was not used/worn and adjust.
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With TSA PreCheck I’m really hoping to keep my shoes on 
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I do a combo of rolling and Marie kondo folding depending on the item.
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My husband is a (pre-Covid) frequent international business traveler - he’d be gone for three weeks at a time so had a system down with just a rolling carry-on and backpack. He ties his running shoes to the outside of his backpack to save on storage room.
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I, too, am an overpacker, especially on our frequent trips to the west coast where we would go from the very hot climate of LA and Sacramento to the mountains where it would get into the 40s at night. And need a range of footwear including sneakers, hiking boots (wear on the plane), sandals and possibly other nice shoes for going out.
In contrast, we went to London for 10 days and I only took a carry-on and a backpack (and my small purse). The weather was consistently mild and possibly rainy so the no need for a wide range of clothing. I wore my rain jacket and sweater on the plane and only wore sneakers, even to dinner. Was good to know I could do that, even if I can’t usually make that happen.
It didn’t seem to me that packing cubes would really help reduce the number of items I would bring. Rolling and folding small and stuffing socks into shoes helps.
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That is a goal, but I’ve been to the airport too many times for early morning flights when the TSA PreCheck line is not open.
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@deb922 The forecasted temperatures are actually perfect. I’ve just become used to temps in the 90s this summer and had been packing with warmer weather in mind.
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Since it’s just family you are traveling with, and sounds like a casual trip, in order to pack less, can you wear your evening clothes more than once? Since it won’t be super hot, you shouldn’t be getting all sweaty in them. I am on a similar trip right now at the beach, with just family. Since we spend day on the beach/outdoors, we tend not to shower until just before dinner, which for us is typically around 7pm. So I end up not even wearing those evening clothes very long. As a result, no reason I can’t wear the same clothes more than once. My family members do the same but they don’t care what I wear anyway. Now if I were traveling on a girls’ trip and going out to dinner every night, I’d probably bring nicer outfits for each night but would mix/match to try to keep from overpacking.
I have this bag, not in white which would get filthy, that I use for car travel (I use a rolling carryon for plane trips). In the bottom section, I can fit gym shoes, flip flops or sandals and a flat iron. Sometimes I will lay a lightweight sweatshirt/hoody if needed. The rest of my clothes fit inside the main compartment. I then bring a small backpack for my ipad, kindle/books, small cross body purse, sunglasses, various chargers, toiletries in a ziplock bag, etc.
For this week long trip I have bathing suits, coverup, lightweight sweatshirt (didn’t even need) pjs, three skorts, two cotton t-shirts, two nicer tops, sundress, cardigan, underwear and some workout clothes. I didn’t bring pants - it’s been in the 80s during day, 70s at night. Ended up not needing the dress/sandals as we did not get together with friends for dinner out.
I should point out that I’m pretty low maintenance, especially when with family vs. friends.
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Based upon the recommendations here, I bought packing cubes before my daugther and I travelled to Italy. We had two carry ons and two checked bags for the trip. I packed each checked bag with half of each of our clothes, and a set of toiletries. Within each bag I had packing cubes that were either mine or hers, to keep our stuff sorted. This way if either checked bag got lost, we both would still have clothes to wear. I have had checked bags opened by TSA in the past and they come back a mess inside. With the packing cubes they would hopefully still be neat?
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