The World Is Yours!
Travel can be both the most amazing experience and a rather stressful experience. Our goal is to make it at easy as possible for you (mostly learning from our mistakes and wins!)
Airtags when traveling are a MUST! In the summer of 2021, every airport we went to had a graveyard of luggage in every baggage claim section. Unfortunately, you never know when an airline will make you check your carry-on bag and being able to see where it is on your phone is the best peace of mind and can help the 3rd party baggage service (which we found out most European Airlines use) find it.
When we were backpacking, we had to check our backpacks on a flight to Portugal from Nice which resulted in losing our backpacks. Rather inconvenient when that's all the clothes you have for 3 months. We got my boyfriend's bag back within 4 days, unfortunately mine took 18 days but I'm forever grateful that it ended up being located. That's when we bought the airtags (should have done it prior) and tagged everything. We tagged our backpacks, my purse, and my boyfriend's bag so the 4 pack on Amazon is the BEST!
After we got them back, we loved being able to see that our bags were at the hotel or Airbnb and I loved knowing that if my purse was stolen or misplaced, I had a way to find it. It's a great purchase you won't regret. #ad
The Backpacker's Backpack to Rule all Backpacks!
This was the best purchase that my boyfriend made! I unfortunately had a different brand of backpack that narrowed at the top and had a separate pocket on the top which I thought would be super convenient ... it was not! This backpack has a TON of pockets and compartments to keep things organized and contained to the right size to be able to carry-on on any flight. When I put things in that top pocket of my bag, I would exceed the size limits and had to get creative but with the way that this bag is shaped and contains everything it was PERFECT and honestly help more that I anticipated. I was jealous to be honest! Another fun feature is that you can tuck the straps and use it as a little duffel. It's pricey but worth every penny. #ad
The Secret to Packing for 3 months in 1 backpack ... SpaceSaver bags!
This was our secret to packing 3 months of clothes for different season - from a heat wave in London to hiking the Fjords in Norway (summer to fall weather). We did 2 small bags per backpack and fit so many outfits in there! We definitely stuffed them to the brim before pumping them down. Especially in the Osprey Backpack, 2 of these fit perfectly in the main compartment and we still had some room!
If I was to go back to my study abroad days, I would have packed everything in these to maximize the things I could bring in my suitcase. Also it's great to have a separate one of these for the dirty clothes to contain the smells as you're on the the go (especially those dirty socks yuck!) #ad
Steamed to stunning!
The secret to looking good in your pictures after backpacking and pulling your clothes out of space saver bags, the portable mini steamer. Without having dryers in most airbnbs to give our shirts and dresses a little fluff, we would take 5 minutes in the morning to give our clothes a little steam and we would be good to go all day. Just remember to check the voltage converter for whatever country you're in.
I may have accidently blown out our first steamer as we were getting ready to go to our friend's wedding in Lake Como (whoops!) and we had to buy another but it was a purchase well worth it. #ad
Laundry on the go .. Detergent Sheets are the way to go!
When we traveled, we discovered that for 2 people, it was actually more cost effective to stay at Airbnbs than hostels! This was definitely different since the time I studied abroad back in 2013. Since we travelled for 3 months we needed to do laundry and we found that just using the washer filter on Airbnb was the best way to get a place with a washer rather than wasting time at a laundromat while abroad, the Airbnb washer gave us way more flexibility. But with that, we definitely did not have room for washer pods so we traveled with this super thin pack of detergent sheets. They both did the job and could be used in a washer or could easily be dissolved in a sink for a quick wash. #ad