Some tips I learned on my way.

• Make an inventory of what you packed and where it is! If you don’t know anymore that you have a specific item with you or you cannot find it anymore, it’s useless.
• Always pack your stuff the same way in the same place. You’ll find the wanted items more quickly. And the risk of losing something is drastically reduced: if it’s not there, it may still be lying in the hostel under the bed…
• Create routines (putting up the tent, packing up, etc). Do it in the same sequence everytime. You’ll get really fast and don’t forget anything anymore.
• Always close the tent! Even if you just want to get something from the bike for 20 seconds! for every 10 seconds the tent is open, there’s a bug in there!
• Put everything into plastic bags, then into your panniers.
  There’s always something spilling from inside (shampoo, sauce, etc) or outside (heavy rain, water crossings). the panniers won’t be water proof after the third crash…
  Another advantage are with bugs: I’ve got an ant colony once in there. but they couldn’t get into my bags. And also if you catch bed bugs they won’t distribute to all your clothes and sleeping bag!
• buy a sponge bag with a hook!