Un-Pack With Me...Learn from my Mistakes (4 Months Backpacking Europe with a Carry-on) 

About your accent, I saw a few rude comments and I just want to say, 1. it is very clear. and 2. everyone has an accent! They are just being mean

I would like to sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart, every video I have searched for has been some influencer/supermodel wannabe packing ridiculously and being sponsored by something or other. This concept you have done where you unpack in front of the camera and share the good and bad ideas of packing for backpacking is AMAZING and the entire video feels so much more real than anything else I have seen. I am subscribing and watching a bunch of your other videos. And again, thank you so much for this video it helps out a lot.

Washing your clothes with your shampoo is why a lot of nomads use Dr. Bronner's...face wash, body wash, shampoo, laundry, dishes, pets, + more, all natural, mild, eco friendly biodegradable.

Me glued to this video to learn how to pack right as if I'm heading off travelling 🤓😅

Absolutely agree with your last regret - do not pack white clothes!! I could have thought that one through myself before I went travelling to do farm work... but even if you're just going hiking or on city trips: your white clothes will just turn grey with a hint of brown, no matter what you do

Great video! There are so many packing videos pre trip, but it's good to know what was useful and what wasn't

I'm definitely team Fairview 40 and Teva sandals without question. The first time I travelled I had a 65 litre pack, a 39 litre pack, a small travel shoulderbag thingy, and a travel pillow and , bottle hanging off everything, I even had to carry my Lonely Planet in my hand because there wasn't a spare inch of space for it. Talk about taking everything for every eventuality. It was ridiculous, even for packing for different climates. These days I can live easily for months out of my Fairview 40 plus the same travel shoulderbag and that's it. I dont wear dresses or shorts (nobody needs to see my fat 65 year old legs!), but I pack 3 pairs of black pants (2 are stretchy viscose with zipped pockets and one loose rayon pair), a pair of yoga leggings, several Icebreaker merino cool-lite tshirts, a couple of patterned rayon tunic tops, a couple of long-sleeve merino tops, a polar-fleece jacket, a rain jacket, a large piece of plain rayon fabric that can be used as a sheet, a sarong, a shawl etc, a sunhat. Plus underwear, socks, and one pair of merino long-johns. My yoga pants, long-johns or undies with a tshirt work as pyjamas and as day clothes/layers. Plus my tevas, my track shoes, and jandals (flipflops). I dont even take a swimsuit, just use a tshirt and yoga pants and remain covered up like the local women do (Asia and India). No makeup (I never wear the stuff), my phone and kindle, battery pack, small JBL speaker, earphones, earplus and eyemask, travel pillow, waterbottle, silicone food containers, and utensils. First aid kit and minimalist toiletries bag. Easy peasy. Going away for a weekend in my own country (New Zealand) entails a much longer thought process and the same pack!! 😂

Learning from the experiences of others means not having to repeat them on your own...thank you..

I love seeing little memories wash over your face as you pull each item out of your bag. I hope you had a sensational trip!

Great video and the best advice. Love that you are unpacking and advising on mistakes as well as all the great and practical things to pack. Thank you xx

So helpful! I'm an Aussie leaving for Europe in 2 weeks and I loved how you shared "what you would do differently" - thanks for this great video :)

I agree about using compression packing cubes. I have Gonex too and I love them. They save you space, help keep things organized, and make packing and unpacking your bag so much easier when you need something at the bottom of your bag.

Thank you for your excellent suggestions on what to take on a backpacking trip to Europe! I really enjoy your videos and am so glad I found you. Take care and be well!

I love Osprey backpacks. I have a smaller, lightweight one that's perfect for day hikes and doubles as my carry on for cruise ship vacations. They are very well made!

Suggestions: -Loop your elasticised hair ties through any zippers on or inside your backpack and any other pouches. Saves space and you'll always be able to find one. -Bring some laundry sheets in a small ziploc bag. You can cut the sheets into thirds for bathroom sink handwashing or throw 3 into a washing machine. -When traveling, wear your bulkiest and/or heaviest outfit (including shoes); it'll save space in your backpack and reduce its weight on your back. I like the idea of bringing a collapsible food container. I've been toying with the idea myself (I have a trip coming up soon), and the one you showed takes up even less space than I was imagining. It also occurred to me that the sealed collapsible food container could also be used to contain other things during travel, saving more space in the backpack. You might consider simplifying your makeup and carrying it in that container. When you get to your lodgings, you can use a cup to hold the contents and free the container for food. Gets rid of that bulky makeup bag.

I used to do my makeup on the train so would carry all my makeup in a small bag. My tip - find everything in stick form that you can blend with your fingers. Skip the foundation, bring a great concealer. Find a cream blush stick, a cream bronzer stick. Liquid eyeliner with its own brush tip (or a pencil but don't forget a sharpener). Eyeshadow sticks you can blend with your fingers - a matte and a glittery one. Brow products are usually in a stick anyway, as are lip products. A mascara, and a powder compact, plus a good compact mirror. You can get it all very small, just no palettes and limit your brushes, particularly face brushes are bulky.

you are SO right about the first aid and the shoes. my biggest regret when i travelled with a backpack to europe a few years ago was not bringing a shit ton of bandaids and disinfectant, but also not bringing good enough shoes and stuff to wrap my ankles. now i do have hypermobile ankles which means my feet shift around a bit too much but still it’s better safe than sorry. long story short i got a life threatening infected blister and wound up in the hospital on IV. something to clean wounds is SOOOO important and when hiking i highly recommend wrapping your ankles or putting some kind of protective tape wherever you tend to get blisters.

This is my first time watching your videos. You are adorable! You’re so friendly and approachable. Thank you for making this video. My husband and I were just talking about how to pack more lightly. It helps to know I’m not crazy thinking 2 pairs of shoes to swap blister positions! 😂

I'm going interailing in April. Thanks so much for helping start my adventure on the right foot. Not least because of your positive personality!

I loveee this video! Felt like a friend unpacking in front of me and talking to me

So many helpful tips, thank you!!

That lunch box is so smart!! What a great tip

I plan on making my 30s all about travel and experience. Thank you for this video!!

Thanks. Very down to earth and useful. Also like your authentic presentation style 😊

Absolutely love this!

This was so helpful! Thank you for posting this ☺️

Absolutely loved this vid, so helpful, thanks!!

Honestly, the backpacker trousers really are the best thing you'll get for long trips I swear I loved mine for 8 months 😂, rompers are so good too!

I love all your insight and notes about what you brought and wish you didn't bring. I had a few of those regrets as well. This was helpful !

I don't use microfiber towels, I use microfiber cloths that I buy for cleaning (bought specifically to dry myself). I keep them in a tiny waterproof bag. I wash clothes in the hostel in the sink. I used to overpack, I now do the wear one, wash one, spare one thing. A tiny sewing kit and safety pins is great for maintaining your clothes. But I don't care about fashion anymore. I bring a lightweight fleece to keep warm. A light scarf is fantastic for keeping warm or making into a dress or a bag. Multi purpose makeup helps reduce the amount of items you need. I use soap instead of shower gel as it lasts longer, is cheaper and weighs less. It's easy to bring through the airport too. If you get blisters, bring blister plasters. I travel to Europe, the US and Asia regularly and only ever bring handluggage. Make sure what you bring is, lightweight and dries easy. I'd never bring jeans or a denim jacket as they are bulky and take time to dry.

So insightful, thank you so much!

Thanks for sharing your experiences. As to doing laundry, I travel with a ziploc bag of laundry SHEETS. They work great and no risk of spilling!

I am obsessed with my Fairview! It is the best travel carry on for me! 💚

Very helpful tips! I also love Tevas and Osprey Fairview pack.

Very helpful! This has reassured me I'm prepared for my europe trip :)

Great video with some helpful tips, it's always great to learn from other people's experiences. My tip is to invest in good hiking / trekking shoes (waterproof!) and don't bring sneakers at all. Sadly most of them come in weird designs, but your feet will thank you. As you mentioned, don't bring anything that's white, especially no shoes with a white sole. Also you don't need makeup. Bring a comfy dress or sweatpants you can double use for during the day and for sleeping at night. If you have a light sleep, use ear plugs and then wear noise cancelling headphones over them. Don't rely only on your phone for tickets and other documents. Print everything important on thin paper (double sided) and throw it away afterwards. You won't have fun if you can't show your ticket because your phone decided to die for no apparent reason and you have to pay a second time - or you can't enter at all.

Im not planning on backpacking, never have been backpacking... Defs have no reason for me to watch this video however i am completely invested 😂

Really enjoyed that Laura. We're not backpacking but getting ready for our 2 week trip to Spain... though a lot of your good advice is still relevant! I'm a desperate just in case/over-packer and often end up taking more clothes than number of days away!! I'm DETERMINED that this trip will be different!

OMG I learned so much, thank you!

Awesome.... Thank you so much for all you information I'll be on my trip for 2 months out of a back pack... August and September.... Wish me blessings 🙏

I am such a romper fan for travel as well! I love your advice.

I did my backpacking around Scotland and Ireland in my youth (long before smartphones, so the space I saved on chargers and batteries etc was taken up with maps). I had a single day pack and a large fanny pack. (I agree a bag that you can wear around front and access easily is a total necessity). I brought a down sleeping bag and it saved my life quite literally as I ended up having to sleep rough a couple times when the hostels were full. Luckily people in Ireland rarely lock their outbuildings or at least didn't at the time and I could keep out of the rain.

Very smart information, thank you!

Great tips! Thanks

# Team packing cubes.... I could NEVER travel without them. Make life so much easier

this was such an informative video! thank you for this :)

i'll add a few carabiners on the straps , they are so helpful. I love the video 👍

Good your video i watch full because it very important for me and thank for sharing

Thank you for sharing!

This is so helpful, thank you! :)

Really enjoyed this video! Completely agree with you on rompers - that’s exactly what I packed for my first backpacking trip. Practical enough but you still feel nice wearing them. Need to buy some more for next year!

Pack a dry bag, a couple of tumble dryer balls and some soap/laundry sheets and you got yourself a mobile manual washing machine (the dry bag is also handy for beach and aquasports). And with some elastic bands you can make a washing line

Great info!! Thank you!!

you are so sweet, thank you for sharing your tips and tricks!

You don't need a second pair of sneakers. Because just like you did you can buy them on location. Just save the weight whilst traveling. I have the same backpack from Ospray and I love it. have been using the Farpoint 40 for a few years now. Instead of the cotton shoulder bag I always carry the foldable Ultralight Dry Stuff Backack from Ospray. So I can leave the Farpoint at the hostel / motel / hotel

Love the video, thanks for your help!:)

Great video thank u so much!! So informative

hi! this was a total lifesaver, so glad it showed up in my recommended :) im going on a trip soon and i have to fit everything in my backpack, but i'm a total overpacker so your video came at the perfect time!

Very good pack. I've owned my 40l osprey in grey since 2019 still holding up on my current 2 month around Europe

Great ideas , thanks .

This was such a helpful video, thank you! I am soon to be travelling across europe for 6mths! I was contemplating bringing my Tevas over my birkenstocks.. and you literally helped make my decision!

A brand new subscriber...thanks for this content! 😁❤️

I have the exact same lunchboxes! They are literally amazing

Thank you so much! Regards Brendan Australia :)

Super informative video! Thank you so much 😊

loved it! thank you so much, love your energy :)

OR (regarding the cloth shopping bags) you can purchase them on the road as a great (and USEFUL) souvenir of your trip. I bet, in years to come, every time you use that bag you'll be reminded of that trip (and not just as a whole, but particular instances) And imo never take PJs traveling. Just some clothes you can sleep, chill and exercise in. Much more efficient use of your travel wardrobe But thanks for posting this. I wish 'unpack with me' videos were more trendy than 'pack with me' ones. Much more helpful!

I love watching your videos Laura!

I used to carry a block of Marseille soap and it did for everything!

What a great vlog, so useful, wish more people did this it would be so helpful. Great tip about white clothes you would think they would be a staple but I forgot that sun cream stains them badly x

I take some Merrell trekking sandals when I travel. They work in the wet or dry, and don't seem to rub blisters.

the makeup bag size isn't an issue. the bag you chose is very flexible, so it'll compress down to whatever the size of the contents are. it's better to have more room to rummage through, as long as the bag's form is compressible. just take less makeup stuff, or find smaller brushes, or have a compact makeup organizers that reduce deadspace.

Thank you for this video, it helped a lot ❤ greetz from Germany :)

This is great 👍 so helpful, great accent👍

Love it!

Oh Gosh these videos are making me in my feels. I SO wish i could be able in this lifetime to travel by backpacking, especially since I live in Europe and it would be simpler. I have a life saving daily medical treatment that I can't bring with me on long trip, but I will try to do shorter trips of one or two weeks next year and I'm feeling excited :) My Osprey as just been ordered, cant wait to receive it x

I have that same Osprey bag. I just got a 19L Mystery Ranch Bag but I have not used it yet. It will just be for two day trips.

That was absolutely brilliant thank you! Currently sitting here stressing as I try to pack for my 9 month trip starting next week

Rompers are so so smart!!! I experience chaffing as well and already regretting the maxi dresses I've bought 🙃

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="520">8:40</a> I bought soft shoe inserts for my worn out sneakers when I went to Ireland! They only lasted the two weeks I was there, but they made it so much nicer I wouldn’t have lasted without them! My major packing mistake was taking a full-size regular towel instead of a microfiber towel! It took up so much room it definitely wasn’t worth it! And thank you for sharing!!

Watching this with my great-niece who is off on her travels at Easter . . . She's borrowing my Farpoint 40 (slightly larger than the Fairview but not much and she's TALL) under pain of excommunication if she loses or damages it. They are great and for those that whine about the lack of partitions inside . . . duh! Packing cubes! Totally agree with you, white clothes are a no-no. At a hostal in Leon, Spain the hostess offered a laundry service. Two days later when I pulled it out to put on I found a dainty, grubby full hand print on the back that never washed out! Everything ends up grey so start out with that from the start 😄 . . . or black.

I see that your backpack wasn't packed to the brim. That's important, it keeps you flexible. And it has also worked for me to have an extra bag. As a man, I was never tempted to pack so much make-up stuff. I would have left the flip-flops at home. And microfibre towels are actually a great invention. The older I get, the less I have in my backpack. It's amazing what you don't need. But the things you do take with you should be of good quality. Nice and informative video!

Heard a great tip online, tried it and it is SO CONVENIENT and works: put some small items in a pencil case (like your toothbrush, USB, paper, pen, tampons). Went on a trip a while ago and did this. I will always do it :)

I always say Rucksack too. It comes to me more naturally than backpack. I feel home hearing that. I do not speak German (I learned it at school but... dont use it, loose it). I dont really speak english by the way. Thank you for the review / sharing experience. ❤

When I try to travel light, I put my clothes in vacuum pack, it saves a lot of space, a small bagpack (slightly smaller than yours) can last me 2 weeks without washing even when I bring along coats and sweaters

Great video! I love the pants you bought!

Welcome back home 😊

I went abroad recently and I also only packed one pair of sunglasses which I immediately regretted as they broke on the first day 😂 I waited like a week before I could find a shop with sunglasses

Have the Osprey porter 46l, similar to yours. Great build quality from Osprey. Nice video, thanks.

Fabulous! Thank you! I am off to Vietnam in 4 weeks …that was so helpful❤

Loved your video. I'm too old to wear rompers, but if I weren't....I would!

nice one Laura, always curious what other travellers take. Good to meet you in Budapest months ago. Hope being home isn't too rough.

Just new to your channel and love it. We're heading to Ireland Sept 2024 and can't wait! Do you have a suggested brand of raincoat like you showed that was so compact?

Swis two pin adaptors are the best for Trains they work everywhere in Europe!

Lovely presented well done , I'm getting one of to vietnam and thailand

Great video 😊

Osprey is made in my hometown, I traveled to Ireland with one in the 1990s. Come visit us in Santa Cruz

I'm a first time viewer. hopefully, I learn some stuff from you.

Hi Laura, love the video and love your channel! I've just accepted a job offer in Dublin and my girlfirend and I are very excited to move over later this year. We'll be doing some travelling beforehand and I wondered if you regretted bringing your drone on this trip.. I haven't had a chance to watch all of your videos from the trip to see how much footage you got with it, but I share the same stresses that you mentioned in your packing video about not being able to fly it... Just wondering how you went with it, might influence whether I end up buying a Mini Pro 3, haha. Thanks!

You can buy a chafing stick ! works great