Because I travel often, and because I hate lugging giant cases (yes, even if they do have wheels) across airports and countries, a challenge I set for myself is to see how light I can pack. My problem is that I want to put extra things in ‘just in case’, despite the fact that I can almost always buy anything I need at destination or on the way.
For the motorbike we have a dry bag that we share, and a small pack on the luggage rack. The side boxes hold rain gear, drinks, and my extra jacket (I have one with sleeves and one without. If I wear the one without sleeves I have long sleeves under it to protect my arms in case of a fall).
This time I counted the days we would be away and made little piles (underwear and short- sleeved t shirt) for each day, plus one extra set just in case. I then added two pairs of jeans, one pair of shorts, a pair of sandals and two long sleeved t shirts. All my toiletries were miniatures and I wore one set of jewellery. For riding I had boots, full leathers, and a hoodie. Electronically I just had my phone and a charger.
It was hot all week but on the ride home we had cool weather and rain. So all in all I packed perfectly. If there had been a cold snap I could have layered the t shirts, and I had an extra change of clothes just in case.
I believe that packing (for women anyway) is a mental thing, a form or emotional security. We also often tend to carry way too much in our handbags, at least I do.