I've been dreaming of traveling lately, having been cooped up in the very same place (and I mean the very same 800 square feet) since Christmas. Being way past simply compiling an extraordinarily long list of would-be destinations—expediently ranked by preference—I have moved on to mulling over the logistics of packing options, as the avenues left to mentally explore in these reveries rapidly diminish. (I think next I will go so far as to lay out daily itineraries with all the coffee spots and culturally iconic points of interest I have thriftily noted down these last few months so that when I am healthy again, all my travel itch will require will be a nice paper airplane ticket to scratch it with.)

But, back to the point at hand: efficient packing is an exercise in restraint. Limiting the volume of clothes you bring obviously has the most impact on your suitcase size. And with budget airlines' current corporate attitude of milking passengers for all they're worth—the latest buzz is all about standing-room-only flights where hopefully they strap you to something—size definitely matters. To that end, I usually plan out my daily outfits (that I may or may not stick to on the destination end) just to make sure I bring only what I need. But I haven't yet followed the most obvious advice: to further reduce superfluous items, limit the entire color range of your travel garb. Pack only a couple neutrals like black and gray (and/or a basic color if you prefer) with a few contrasting accessories to keep you from fading into the wallpaper.

So, below I took a whack at single-color profiles in pursuit of packing skills that will really take me places. Badda bing, badda boom.