My parents and I are heading to Asheville, North Carolina on Sunday to visit my sister for her spring break! Let’s get crazyyyy! We’ll also be celebrating a very belated birthday for Katherine, and what better place than Asheville?! I’ve never been, but it seems like a brewery Mecca.

The airfare to fly to Asheville was dirt cheap, but there was a catch- we went for the basic economy fare instead of regular economy. If you don’t know the difference, that’s okay, it’s a relatively new switch that big airlines are doing and it’s kind of sneaky. They advertise these super low prices to get you hooked, but then you realize that the special pricing comes with some restrictions: you can’t choose your seat ahead of time (so say goodbye to sitting next to your friends/family and hello to potentially getting the middle seat) and you can’t bring a carry on bag, you just get ONE personal item that can fit under your seat.

I wasn’t thrilled at first about the idea of only having a personal item for a three-day trip (hello, professional overpacker here!), but I’m always up for a good challenge and this seems like one right up my alley. Am I right? The only problem now is that I’m stressing out about not being able to fit said personal item under the seat in front of me. And how embarrassing would that be?! So I’ve decided to take this challenge to the next level and have titled it the MZWALLACE Backpack Challenge! I LOVE my MZWALLACE backpack. A lot. I always go back and forth between which I love better, a good tote bag or this awesome backpack. And I guess it seems like I always lean towards the backpack. So here I am now trying to pack enough clothing to survive a three-day vacation.

Our Asheville itinerary isn’t finalized yet–and after the trip I promise I’ll do a travel guide– but for now I’m packing for a hike on Monday and then an outfit for the Biltmore on Tuesday. Full disclosure, I’ll probably rewear my Sunday outfit on Wednesday, which is when we fly home. Check out my packing list below for all that I plan on stuffing into my backpack!  

Basic Economy, Asheville Packing List:

–Lucky Brand Jeans

–“Adventure Pants” aka Athleta Wander Utility Pants (I wear a size 0) **on sale for $53!!!**

–Athleta Zip-Up Top

–Patagonia 

–Grey Turtleneck

–Cami

–J Crew Tee

–Bikini I’m wearing a size S, and it’s under $30!!

–RayBans

–Longchamp

–MZ WALLACE Backpack