Backpacking In Europe? I Made These 6 Mistakes So You Don't Have To

The views expressed in this Opinion article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Narcity Media.

Images of sandy beaches, charming European towns, and no baggage fees were floating through my mind last summer when I was planning a trip to Europe with only a hiking pack in tow. Original, right?

I know I'm not the first person to backpack in Europe, but I do have some key pieces of advice for all those planning their own trip this year.

Travelling with just a backpack can save you money (I'll do anything not to pay Air Canada $100 on top of my already painfully expensive ticket), but it can also end up costing you.

So dig that old hiking bag out of storage and get ready to watch a YouTube tutorial on rolling clothes — it's backpacking time!

A person holding a passport. Morgan Leet | Narcity

Only checking Air Canada baggage guidelines

Flying from Canada to Europe was a breeze. Gate agents gave me smiles and didn't look twice at my monster of a backpack. One flight attendant even helped me stuff my bag into the overhead compartment — I'll get into that later (hint: it wasn't an easy feat).

A person on a plane.Morgan Leet | Narcity

While in Europe, though, I was welcomed into the world of budget airlines. With no checked baggage, I was soaring with optimism after paying just $40 for a flight to Greece — "Thank you, EasyJet!" I thought to myself.

But my initial gratitude toward the airline soon turned into something much less polite.

Fear struck deep in my bones as I lined up at my gate, watching each passenger get instructed to place their carry-on bag into a tiny box in order to measure if it was the proper size.

As I approached the gate agents, there were no smiles, and they all did a double-take when seeing my bag. My face turned bright red as I tried to force my bag into the tiny metal frame.

My efforts were in vain, and I ended up having to pay to check my bag at the gate.

The takeaway? Check the required baggage measurements of every airline you plan to fly with because they can be very, very different!

Banking on doing laundry

I embraced the "minimalist" lifestyle when packing my bag (or at least my version of it, which was four pairs of shoes). I figured I could find a laundromat wherever I was during my three-week-long trip and pack fewer clothes.

A week in, on my last pair of underwear and with no laundromat in sight, I began to panic.

I had to resort to handwashing my clothes in the sink, which was time-consuming, tiring, and just all around not ideal. My advice? Expect sore arms and bring a few extra pairs of underwear instead of trying to fit that other pair of shoes.

Thinking it would be comfortable

I have a pretty decent hiking backpack, so felt confident that I could strap it on and travel to multiple countries without a hitch.

On my first of two layovers on my way to Italy, I realized how dumb that was. My shoulders and hips ached, and I ended up sitting on the airport floor while waiting in the customs line.

I gained a new appreciation for the invention of wheely suitcases!

Person walking down a street with a big backpack.Morgan Leet | Narcity

Trying to squeeze it overhead

Warning: Your backpack may or may not be so heavy that it falls on a fellow passenger, who will proceed to glare at you the entire flight.

Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way.

My bag was so full that I had to stuff it into the plane's overhead compartment each flight. Thanks to my height (or lack thereof), this meant I was standing on my tippy-toes, partially jumping to launch my full weight into the backpack in hopes of fitting it in.

As you can imagine, this was pretty embarrassing. Not quite as embarrassing as when it fell on Seat C24, though.

If you're reading this Seat C24, my apologies.

Heed my warning and be realistic about how big your bag is!

Trying to stay organized

With a trusty suitcase, you can simply zip it open and see most of your clothes at a glance (or at least be able to dig through it).

With a backpack, there is no digging.

At each destination, I would unload the entire contents of my bag and dump it all over the bed in hopes of finding my one plug converter.

By the end of the trip, my backpack was a disorganized mess of items stuffed all over the place. To be fair, it didn't start out super organized, but I did try to use packing cubes at one point (to no avail).

It's just way easier to keep things organized in a suitcase. The backpack life is all about stuffing in that last sweater and reaching your arm down the endless depth of your pack, feeling around for your passport.

And the sooner you embrace that, the better.

Not keeping track of toiletries

Before I embraced the chaoticness of my packing, there was hope. I had my little baggy of mini-shampoos and moisturizer packed into a small compartment at the top of my bag, making them easy to access going through security.

That organization did not last long (see above). While it's basically pointless to try to keep any semblance of structure, there are two things to need to keep at the top of your pack: Your passport and your toiletries.

My disorganization meant that I was frequently holding up security lines, trying to root through the abyss that was my backpack to find my liquids.

An airport security line.Morgan Leet | Narcity

It's worth it

All that said, I would actually recommend using a big backpack as your carry-on in lieu of checking a bag. Next time, I'll definitely optimize my packing a little bit more and cut down on the number of shoes, but it was convenient overall.

It saved me some baggage fees and honestly was worth it for a trip visiting multiple countries because I avoided the risk of losing my luggage. That alone was worth the bruises on my shoulders.

Just know what you're getting into before your trip. You've been warned!