{"id":69852,"date":"2026-06-15T12:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T12:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/69852\/"},"modified":"2026-06-15T12:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T12:05:07","slug":"took-3-week-trip-through-europe-worst-mistake-we-made-how-to-avoid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/69852\/","title":{"rendered":"Took 3-Week Trip Through Europe: Worst Mistake We Made, How to Avoid"},"content":{"rendered":"

My wife and I had just arrived in Amsterdam, the first stop on our\u00a0three-week European trip<\/a>\u00a0with about 10\u00a0destinations.<\/p>\n

As we stepped off the train, we prepared to bask in the “we made it halfway across the world from Reno” feeling as we embarked on a peaceful canalside walk to our hotel.<\/p>\n

Instead, we walked straight into SAIL Amsterdam 2025 alongside about 2 million of our closest friends. We had no idea the massive festival was happening.<\/p>\n

Navigating all the crowds would’ve been fine \u2026 if we hadn’t packed as though Europe might run out of clothes.<\/p>\n

I’m a contingency planner by profession, which made things worse. I’d packed two sport coats, four pairs of shoes, two neckties, a London Fog overcoat, and my masterpiece: a clothing steamer<\/a>. I used the steamer exactly zero times on the whole trip.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, my backpack contained basically my entire work life: two laptops, an iPad Pro, chargers, adapters, and enough cords to wire a small data center. I also brought a “mini studio” for recording keynotes \u2014 a tiny tripod, portable mics, and a headset \u2014 plus a camera bag with more lenses than any normal person needs.<\/p>\n

My wife and I managed to hit 49.9 pounds (just under the 50-pound limit) on both checked bags<\/a>, which felt like we were winning at travel. Then we tried carrying them \u2014 plus two overloaded carry-ons each \u2014 and instantly proved ourselves wrong.<\/p>\n

The stupid part is that we’ve been to Europe before, and we do know how to travel. Before leaving, we even swore we’d try seasoned travel writer Rick Steves’<\/a> method of packing minimally and fitting everything in just one carry-on bag each. <\/p>\n

Then we ignored basically every sentence Rick has ever written.<\/p>\n

Overpacking weighed us down for the entire trip <\/p>\n

\"Person<\/p>\n

It was hard to watch travelers who were just carrying backpacks or small bags.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jasmina007\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The walk from Amsterdam Centraal to our hotel was supposedly short. In practice, it felt never-ending as my suitcase wheels hit cobblestone and immediately staged a protest. <\/p>\n

The wheels locked up, and I dragged it along while locals and tourists alike walked by with light backpacks and the calm expression people get when they’re watching someone lose an argument with a screaming toddler. To be fair, I felt like I was.<\/p>\n

And that became the pattern across city after city. Brussels. Bruges. Ghent. Avignon. Same scene: me hauling a stubborn suitcase over ancient stones and swearing under my breath.<\/p>\n

Our itinerary also included Porto, the Douro Valley, Toledo, Sevilla, Madrid, and Segovia. On paper, seeing all these places was awesome. <\/p>\n

In reality, packing, moving, and then unpacking so much stuff felt as if we were being evicted every 72 hours.<\/p>\n

Porto is where the trip finally put me in my place. Between the hills and the luggage, I started cursing everything, especially stairs and cobblestones. <\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

By the time we reached Porto, I was seriously questioning my choices.\u00a0<\/p>\n

John Keeble\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

I set an alarm for sunrise photos, but by then I was so exhausted from lugging my bags around that I slept through it. By Toledo (and then Segovia), we weren’t “traveling Europe.” We were commuting through it with enough luggage to make me question my life choices. <\/p>\n

And then I noticed them: the Rick Steves type of travelers<\/a>. Calm. Unbothered. Guidebook open. Backpack on the back, smaller one on the front, hands free, and walking like this was normal.<\/p>\n

And the worst part? Those backpacks looked like the ones so many lists and guides recommend. The same kind I bought before we left \u2026 and returned, because I looked at them and thought, “Nope, these are too small.” I couldn’t bear not being able to bring all my “what if” clothes.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, my wife and I looked like the American tourists<\/a> we swore we wouldn’t be \u2014 overloaded, swapping hands, rearranging straps, and acting like travel is something you just power through. <\/p>\n

I wanted to blend in. I wanted to look effortless, like the guy who “just wanders.” But nothing blows your cover faster than dragging a 49.9-pound suitcase over centuries-old cobblestones while carrying a camera bag and a strong case of self-doubt.<\/p>\n

After that trip, we plan to never travel or pack this way again <\/p>\n

\"Open<\/p>\n

Next time, we’ll be more thoughtful about how we pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Carol Yepes\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

I don’t regret lugging around my camera because the photos do matter. The rest? Never again.<\/p>\n

Don’t get me wrong: we enjoyed the trip. We ate well, saw beautiful places, and made memories we’ll talk about forever. It just could’ve been a whole lot more relaxing if we weren’t constantly managing our stuff \u2014 and our packed schedule \u2014 like it was a small business.<\/p>\n

Next time, I’m limiting myself to one bag<\/a> I can lift without giving myself a pre-game pep talk. No specialty gear I don’t use at home, and absolutely zero appliances that produce steam. We’re also focusing on fewer destinations and longer stays. <\/p>\n

And as for the Rick Steves travelers? I plan to join them \u2014 lighter, calmer, and finally traveling like I’ve done this before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"My wife and I had just arrived in Amsterdam, the first stop on our\u00a0three-week European trip\u00a0with about 10\u00a0destinations.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":69853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[38968,38966,27630,38969,4,15,6564,38975,24054,11556,38970,38974,38973,38972,38967,38971],"class_list":["post-69852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-europe","tag-backpack","tag-camera-bag","tag-city","tag-cobblestone","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-hotel","tag-packing-advice","tag-place","tag-porto","tag-rick-steves","tag-segovia","tag-small-one","tag-toledo","tag-trip","tag-wife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/europe\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}