Ever since my entire family WAY overpacked on our trip to Europe four years ago, I’ve made it my personal mission to be a light packer. Hey, being stuck in a car for a month that’s so tightly packed that you can’t even sit back all the way will do that to a person.

I like to think I’ve perfected the art. Last weekend was no different. My sisters and I were headed out of state for the night and I did what any reasonable person would do: Took the dress I had on, plus one more, pjs (ya know, splurging since I could have technically just slept in my dress), a sweater, two books, my blanket and teddy bear, cord and battery pack for my phone, and a couple of essential personal items. After reassessing the situation I pulled one of the books out of my bag. It was only an overnight trip after all, and I had my kindle on my phone.

On Saturday, eight hours away from home, I found out that the Answers in Genesis family conference was starting on Monday. I had really wanted to go to it, but hadn’t realized it was coming up so soon. I sent a frantically typed (and then reworded several times) text to my boss asking for the week off, acknowledging that I knew it was late notice. He said he would see if it could happen.

Fast forward to the next day. We were packing up to go home and my little sister (who’s actually like six inches taller than me) had let me borrow one of her dresses cause she’s cool like that. She was going in a different car than me, so I asked her if she wanted to take one of my dresses home since the little bag I was carrying didn’t have room for an extra bag. She sweetly agreed.

I had been planning on traveling with my adopted parents (who work at the Creation Museum) if I could go to the conference, but I hadn’t mentioned it to them cause I wanted it to be a surprise if I could get off of work. They live several hours away from the museum – about two hours from my house – and generally drive down Monday morning and stay for the week. As my sisters and I were driving home about 50 minutes away from the Creation Museum which is where the conference is being held (and an exit we would pass going home) a thought pops into mind. What if my adopted parents had come down to the museum early? I texted them to find out, and sure enough, they were already there. That meant I couldn’t go home, pack, drive to their house, spend the night, then travel to the museum with them the next day. This was a problem for a number of reasons. My sisters and I held a quick conference together, then I texted my boss and asked if there was ANY WAY I could know if could have the week off within the next 40 minutes, then very briefly explained why. I also told him I would be back by Saturday so I could work then.

After praying a lot and checking my phone every couple of seconds, I received the text saying I could have the week off! I only needed to work on Saturday. I was thrilled to say the least, and called my adopted parents asking if they could meet me at the exit in 25 minutes so I could stay with them for the week. They confused and happily agreed.

(You can’t vote – it’s a pic from my Instagram I wanted to share with you.)

So there I was, sitting in the car with a grand total of one dress of mine with me. Because, ya know, as I mentioned, I’m an epic light packer.

My sisters rallied together going through their bags and when I climbed out of the car I had in my possible three dresses in addition to the one I had on. (Never mind that most of them were in need of washing.) Thankfully, my adopted parents were able to help me find a place to wash them, as well as taking me to Walmart to buy a few essentials.

So here I am, spending a lovely week at the Creation Museum with no computer, one pair of sandals, a purse full of cords, and precious little else. As it turns out, as much as I truly do miss some items, not having them is kind of good for me. Plus, next time I come to the museum I’ll know exactly what it is that I really will want so I can pack accordingly.

Everything is going fine and dandy. Well, except for the fact that I kinda forgot I wouldn’t have my car at my adopted parent’s house when we got back there Friday night.

And I need to be at work early Saturday morning.

And most of my family is gone for the week so no one can drive my car the two hours to my adopted parent’s house to drop the car off.

But hey! It will work out. These things always do. 😜

Do you generally overpack or under pack?

If you want to see what I’m doing throughout the week, you can watch my Instagram Story at Lydia_Reads. I’m sharing lots of cool, behind-the-scenes stuff. 😃