Packing Light

So far, I've told you where we will be going and some of the sights we plan on seeing on our backpacking trip through Europe.

Now, I will show some of the ways it's possible to be so on-the-go as we live out of our backpack for 15 days.  The key is to pack light.

                    Here are some of the must-haves we have gotten so far for our trip, complete with photos:

The first thing you need is..... a backpack

We got lucky and have some very sweet and always generous friends who let us borrow their backpack for our trip.  Thanks Kaelin & Heather!  We love you guys and wish you were going with us!!! 

We are planning to only take this real backpackers' backpack and then just a regular size backpack for the two of us. 

This is North Face brand Size 70 backpack.  Another plus is, we will be able to keep everything we are taking with us as a carry-on!  Very handy first step for any backpacking trip!

Another thing to think about is a sleep sack

A sleep sack is useful in hostels and hotels as your sheets.  Some hostels supply sheets, but some charge rental fees.  This sleep sack folds up into this handy pouch. 

When you unfold it and are ready to go to sleep, it looks like this...

It even has a place for a travel-size pillow to slip into the top!  It's pretty comfortable and made out of a material that is supposed to be best for regulating your body temperature.  So even though it's lightweight, it's still warm enough. 

It's also small and easy to roll up into it's pouch and go when you are ready!

This picture shows it's size in relation to our small TV.





Safety First! 

Just to play it safe we bought a small travel First Aid Kit.

Just in case we get any bumps, bruises, or blisters!

After talking to some friends traveling in Europe right now we decided to get some new water bottles.



This will not only keep us hydrated, but we will save some money!

These also have clips so they can hang right on our backpack as needed.

We also found a waist pouch to keep all of our important documents on us at all times; like passports, ID's, etc.

My husband refused to wear this until he realized it goes UNDER your clothes.  So you don't look like a  fanny pack dork and you don't have to worry about being stuck in a country because your passport was stolen!

Here is our international cellphone

It's small and handy (pun intended) and this was our best choice financially.  I suggest checking with your cellphone provider about their international plans.  This was just the best option for us!

So even though we are packing light... clothes can take up space.  Hence our investment in compression bags.

You just lay folded clothes inside, zip them up, roll all the air out, and voila!  Since all of the air is out, your clothes take up less space.  You can just open them back up and take your clothes out as needed!  Pretty handy for backpacking!

The first picture of this next item might confuse you...

but this, my friends, is a microfiber travel towel.

It's hard to tell just how small it is, so here ya go.

Yes, it rolls up to about the size of your hand.  You can rent towels at hostels and other places you stay, but we decided this was the best route to go.  Regular towels can take up a lot of space when packing, but these roll up to about hand sized.  When they are unrolled they are about 2ft x 3ft.  These are supposed to be quick drying as well.  So, if we shower at night, they should be ready to roll-up and go by morning!

Now, for some girl specific items.

This looks like an ordinary hair straightener with a super cute slip case, right?

Well, here it is next to my hand...



and in my hand...

and here's the part that gets hot compared to the size of my finger

Now that is travel friendly. 

I've yet to try it out, but let's be honest... my hair looks a hot mess after blow-drying and I will be taking once in a lifetime types of pictures.  I'm going to want to look at them without thinking about how horrible my hair looked in front of the Eiffel Tower.  So it you are like me, a travel straightener is the way to go!

And speaking of a blow-dryer.

It even folds.

Are you noticing the trend yet? 

If it ain't around hand-sized... we ain't takin' it!

Last, but not least.

Locks.

The truth is, there are good and bad people anywhere in the world you can think to travel.  It's important to be aware and cautious without it ruining your fun. 

Combination locks on your backpacks and purses will just give you a little more peace of mind.

These are just some of the things we have added to our backpacking collection so far!

If you are thinking of backpacking, these are some great items to help you start packing light!!!

:)



Love,

Amanda