YOU GUYS. I DID IT.
I made it to Europe, around Europe, and out of Europe using a single backpack.
Anyone who knows me knows that this is a spectacular feat.
On my last trip to Europe, I brought a carry-on rolling suitcase in addition to my personal item, and that was only for a five-day trip to two cities.
Toward the end of December, I splurged on the medium-sized Away suitcase, thinking I would definitely need it for my planned 10-day trip to Europe.
I brought it with me on my 10-day trip to Michigan over the holidays, and the friend I visited bluntly told me I was not allowed to bring it with me when I visited him in Europe.
“Uh, why not?”
“…Because we’re going to be going from city to city, and I don’t want to deal with you dragging that thing around.”
…OK. Fine. Probably fair.
Said friend is an ultimate minimalist (seriously, I think he can fit everything he owns into two bags and a box that fit in the backseat of his car) and I didn’t think there was any possible way I could bring a single bag on a 10-day trip.
Buuutttt, when I told my coworker Colleen about my travel plans, she told me she’d actually traveled to Italy for 10 days using only a backpack a few years ago, and it was totally possible.
Soooo, I decided to go for it.
I think I’m going to do a follow-up post detailing exactly what I packed and what I wore each day I was in Europe, but I wanted to spend this post detailing the mentality behind how I packed, if that makes sense? Anyway! Here we go.
1. START WITH A QUALITY BACKPACK
I spent a lot of time researching backpacks before I bought one. I made a list of features I knew I needed — like size, capacity and weight — and features that would be cool — like colors, pockets and loading direction — before I ended up buying the L.L. Bean Continental Travel Pack (original bag discontinued, new model linked).
In terms of researching, I did a lot of Googling. I read travel blogs, Reddit subs and product reviews for dozens of backpacks before compiling a list of bags to consider.
Here are the other bags I looked at (affiliate links):
- L.L. Bean Quickload Travel Pack (discontinued, but available on eBay)
- L.L. Bean Expedition Travel Pack (discontinued, but available on eBay)
- Osprey Porter 30 or 46
- Osprey Farpoint 40
- Aer Travel Pack
- Tortuga Outbreaker
I almost pulled the trigger on an Osprey, but I actually ended up going with the Continental after finding it for a fairly reasonable price on eBay! I really liked that it unzipped like a suitcase, and didn’t look too “backpacker-y.” It was also a decent size!
So, bag? Check. (Pun intended.) Now on to the packing.
2. PARE IT DOWN TO THE ESSENTIALS
This was the hardest part, because I always tend to overpack. What can I say, I have a lot of “what if” thoughts — what if I spill something on myself, what if my manicure chips, what if I end up needing to wear heels for whatever reason — and I am not the best about picking out my outfits in advance. I like seeing everything in front of me!
But, knowing that we weren’t going to do laundry at all, I focused on pieces I could re-wear and mix-and-match that cooperated with the wide range of weather: Highs of 60 in Barcelona, and lows of 20 in Prague.
I kept all my liquids confined to my one-quart bag, cut my makeup down to the bare minimum and left behind some of those luxury items I would usually pack, like my noise-canceling headphones, S’well bottle, and my extra just-in-case outfits.
3. FOLLOW THE AIRLINE BAGGAGE RESTRICTIONS… BUT FIND THE LOOPHOLES FIRST
During my trip, I flew United, Lufthansa, Pegasus and Ryanair. Lufthansa and Ryanair were the hardest to prepare for. Lufthansa has an 8 kg (17.6 pound) weight restriction for carry-on baggage. Yikes. When you think about it… that’s not a lot of weight. I was allowed a free checked bag, but with a quick less-than-two-hour connection on both flights, I really did not want to risk lost luggage. (Considering I made both connections with seconds to spare, too, I’m so glad I didn’t check my bag.)
I knew that a lot of the stuff I was carrying — my computer, chargers, outlet converters, battery packs, liquids, etc. — would put my bag over that limit, so I brought a collapsible backpack as well. Lufthansa allows each passenger an (unweighed) smaller personal item in addition to the under-8 kg carry-on, so I packed my collapsible pack full of my heavy stuff for the flight. My travel pack went in the overhead bin, my collapsible backpack went under the seat in front of me, and once I landed, everything was neatly repacked into my travel pack. Easy.
On the other hand, Ryanair allows each passenger one item of hand baggage, and my L.L. Bean backpack was a little bigger than what was allowed. I just paid the extra $6 for priority on my two Ryanair flights to have that extra peace of mind.
Of course, go figure, none of the airlines gave my luggage a second glance, but better to be prepared than panicking because you suddenly have to either check a bag or start throwing your belongings away!
∙ ∙ ∙
· · · THE BEST THINGS I PACKED · · ·
My Patagonia rain jacket. My friend almost convinced me to leave this behind since my Barbour has a hood and is water resistant, but I brought it last minute and I’m so glad I did. Much of our trip was rainy and wet, and I got so much wear out of this jacket and it was easy enough to pack. (And, as a side note, said friend spent much of our Montreal trip wet and cold, so I knew enough not to trust his advice, hah.)
My waterproof booties. (Similar linked.) I bought these about a month ago with the sole intention of bringing them with me to Europe, and they did NOT disappoint. They were stylish, warm, incredibly comfortable to walk in and completely waterproof. They got me through snowy Milan, rainy Istanbul and snowy Prague with absolutely no problems. They were slightly slippery on some of the really rough cobblestone in Prague, but that was the only issue with them.
My external battery pack. Luckily, I *finally* upgraded my old iPhone 6 the week before I left (seriously, I got about two hours out of a single charge with it), but I still relied on my battery pack just about every day. (I love this one because it has a built-in cord!)
My toiletry kit. I’ve talked about this before in my list of hostel essentials, but it’s really one of my favorite things to bring anywhere. It’s TSA-approved to serve as your bag of liquids, and it hangs easily in the shower.
Dryer sheets and heavy-duty quart-size Ziploc bags. It was nice to smell fresh after unpacking and repacking my bag every single day, and since my TSA PreCheck benefits don’t work overseas, it was nice to be able to repack my liquids (as much as I love the aforementioned toiletry kit) to meet European security standards.
My leather crossbody. I took this out with me every day when we were exploring each city. It’s small, but the shape lets you fit quite a bit inside it. It’s also a good color in that it matches everything! If you’re really wary about pickpocketers, also, it has a cute little lock on it. Not sure how effective it would be, though.
· · · WHAT I PACKED THAT I WISH I HADN’T · · ·
My MacBook Pro and charger. I honestly didn’t want to bring my computer at all, but sometimes work is unavoidable. I barely used this thing and hated lugging it around and having to be delicate with my backpack because of it, but unfortunately, I can’t simply ditch work for 10 straight days.
My sunglasses. I didn’t wear them a single time because it was so cloudy, rainy and snowy for most of my trip.
My Kindle. I had planned on reading on planes and trains, but I never really got the chance to. My friend and I talked on all the flights we had together, and the rest of the flights I was way too tired to concentrate on my book. I ended up just carrying my Kindle around in the bottom of my bag for the whole trip.
My winter scarf. I bought a scarf first thing in Istanbul and then ended up carrying around two scarfs for the duration of the trip, which was probably unnecessary.
Alllll the lipsticks. I’m a lipstick junkie, so I usually overpack colors. However, I ended up only wearing one of the three I packed, so I probably could have left the other two at home.
My Patagonia Nanopuff. I threw this in last minute because it’s light and packs down, but I didn’t end up wearing it once since I already had my Barbour jacket with me — which is a little more discreet than my bright red puffer anyway.
· · · WHAT I DIDN’T PACK THAT I WISH I DID · · ·
Honestly… not much at all! There were very few instances where I was like “wow I really wish I had [insert_item_here].” There were a few days I wished I had a better selection of clothes (like when my friend tried to convince me to go clubbing in Istanbul but I didn’t have a single thing to wear), but other than that, I was good with what I had! However, two things would have been useful to have:
Bandages. I gashed the side of my ankle pretty badly right before I left, and spent my entire flight to Munich gushing blood all over my booties. Thankfully, our first Airbnb in Milan had available bandages so I could clean up my cut, but I really wish I’d thought to pack some.
Nail clippers. I had a no-chip manicure the day before my flight, so I figured I’d be safe from broken nails and snags. Mmm, nope! Turns out UV-cured polish is no match for Barcelona bunker climbing, so I spent the final two days of my trip snagging my chipped nail on everything. My friend had actually asked if I had a pair at one point too, so I feel like these would have been really useful to pack.
· · · WHAT I DIDN’T PACK THAT I DIDN’T MISS · · ·
My winter coat. I usually pull out my parka when it dips below freezing, but I knew I didn’t want to worry about carrying it around when it was nice out. I ended up layering with a combo of a Patagonia fleece and/ or cardigan, Barbour vest and Barbour jacket, and I was definitely warm enough with that.
My hair dryer/ straightener/ styling tools. I have destroyed two hair dryers and a straightener with European outlets, so I knew well enough to just leave it all behind this time around. Two of our Airbnbs had hair dryers, but for the most part I just air dried… which was fine, because it was wet and snowy for the most part anyway.
My glasses. I wear contacts 98 percent of the time and really only wear my Warby Parkers if I’m walking from the bathroom to my bed at night, so I left them behind, and I’m glad I did.
Alllll my extra clothes. OK, I kinda missed having a few things, like cute tops to wear to bars or a dress for that potential clubbing incident I mentioned earlier, but for the most part, being able to carry all my crap around in a backpack was mostly worth switching between various neutral-colored t-shirts for 10 days.
∙ ∙ ∙
There you go! 10 days, nine outfits, eight flights, seven airports, six stamps in my passport, five countries, four cities, three pairs of shoes, two continents and one backpack.
Will I do it again? …not entirely sure. Like I mentioned previously in my recap blog post, I felt like this trip was way too much packed into 10 days, and I would have preferred to spend more than like, one day in each city.
However, it’s good to know that I can confine myself to a backpack when I travel, so at the very least, Spirit Airlines shouldn’t be a problem in the future!
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