Packing for the Last Long Weekend of Summer

Labor Day weekend has a particular kind of pressure to it. It is the last stretch of summer, everyone is traveling at the same time, and the window is short enough that any time lost to traffic, airport lines, or a forgotten item is a meaningful percentage of the trip. Three days does not leave room to recover from a bad start.

The packing problem is that a long weekend feels like it deserves more than a weekend, so people bring more than they need. In practice the itinerary is usually one nice dinner, two days of something outdoors, and a lot of sitting around. That is a very small amount of clothing and a lot of variation in temperature, since early September evenings turn cool in most of the country.

Pack for layers rather than outfits. One Packing Cube holds the base clothing compressed, and the layer you might need at night goes on top of the bag rather than buried in it. Shoes go in the Shoe Bag, especially if there is any chance of sand, grass, or a lake involved.

Keep the whole thing in the Everyday Backpack if you are driving, since a single bag is easier to move between a car, a house, and a beach than a rolling suitcase that was built for hotel lobbies.

The last piece of advice is about timing rather than packing. Leave earlier than you think you need to. Everyone else is leaving at the same time, and the hour you gain at the front of the weekend is the most valuable hour of it.