The One Bag Vacation Policy - The "How" - Part II

Now that you're sold on why The One Bag Vacation Policy rocks and have transcended the mental addiction to packing for every possible contingency, here are some practical applications to travelling light:

1. Make a wish list of everything you would like to bring if you had unlimited space. For those of you who have undergone wedding planning, this is akin to the first cut of your guest list. Most likely, 3/4 of these items will not make it to the final cut.
2. For each item on your list, figure out if, at the end of the trip, you'll still think that it was really worth it lugging that item around the entire time. If it's something you might only use once or never at all, it's probably not worth bringing.
3. Exceptions to #2 above are things that might either save your life or get you out of a serious jam. For example, if you have a severe allergy, obviously bring your EpiPen even if you might never use it. Likewise, I highly recommend bringing a tweezer, not for personal grooming purposes, but in case your ATM or credit card gets stuck in a machine and you need to forcibly remove it (this actually happened to me in Venice and I am so grateful I had that tweezer in my bag).
4. Trust in yourself that you will be able to figure out a workaround for any situations that may arise, rather using overpacking as an insurance policy. As Rick Steves writes, "Pack for the best scenario and simply buy yourself out of any jams." By the way, I highly recommend his website as a great source of information on both this topic and travelling in general (especially in Europe).

So, those are the basics. The hardest part is to mentally divorce yourself from the need to pack everything you could possibly need on your trip. Once you get over that hurdle, you're golden. The practicalities of packing lightly are comparatively simple.