The packing and other challenges

It is the first time in my life that I try to travel with hand luggage only. I bought myself a cute little women´s hand luggage backpack. I  will be traveling for 23 days and to be honest it is a great challenge for me to pack all the stuff which I need during this time in such a small backpack. There are several reasons why I have decided to travel with hand luggage only: one is the practical issue. Probably I have to carry my backpack quite often - so it makes it much easier if it is a little lighter. The second reason is that throughout my life I tend to have too many things around me. I want to experience how it feels to travel with 8 kg only. I am curious to see with how little one can live and be happy. Less luggage - more freedom - that´s my motto for my trip. I also travel on a budget - 1300 €, that´s around 55 €/day. It´s according to other travelers not a tight budget, however also not a big one. Let´s see if I can make it. Accommodation in Thailand, where I will spend most of my time, seems to be cheap. However, I am also planning to go on a couple of tours and enjoy good food and maybe a massage or two as well.  I will travel alone which gives me an enormous freedom of where I go, where and how long I stay somewhere and how I spend my time. So far I have only booked my flight to Bangkok and back. Nothing more. I want to spend part of my time in the North of Thailand and part in the South. Furthermore I am thinking about going to Laos for a few days to take part in the so called       Gibbon´s experience and to go to an     Elephant´s sanctuary. That´s all about my plans so far.