Packing light is essential for happy travel. Think about it. Have you ever met anyone who, after five trips brags, "Every year, I pack heavier." Learn now, or you'll learn later, the importance of being mobile with your luggage. Pack light.
Large, unweilding suitcases are bad for this kind of travel. Smaller, carry on sized wheely bags are popular and can work well.
If you don't mind slinging your suitcase over your shoulder, a bag like this works great. This is a soft sided, convertible suitcase rucksack. It's designed to be as big as you can carry it onto the airplane. That's 9x22x14 inches.
Now, for maximum mobility, you can plug in these hidden padded shoulder straps and then you can wear your suitcase like a backpack.
You'll be walking a lot with your bags, especially if traveling by train. Before your trip, try this test. Load everything up and go down town. Window shop for an hour with all your gear. If you can't do that, go home, spread everything out on the living room floor and reconsider.
Pick up each item one at a time. Ask yourself, "Will I use this swimming mask enough to testify carrying around?" Not, "Will I use it?" It would be great here in the Riviera. But, "Will I use it enough to feel good about packing it through the Swiss Alps?" Frugal as I may be, I'd buy it here before I'd carry it through Europe.
Don't pack for the worst scenario, pack for the best scenario and if you need something more, buy it over here.
Leave home with enough toiletries to get you started. Really look forward to running out of toothpaste in Italy. Then, you've got a great excuse to into a department store, shop around and pick up something you think might be toothpaste.
It's easy. You can get virtually everything in Europe. If you can't get one of your essentials here, perhaps you should ask yourself how 400 million Europeans can live with out it.
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