Packing for 6 weeks in Europe

Ben and I traveled to Europe for 5.5 weeks in the Spring of 2014.  Our trip started in early April and ended mid-May.  We traveled to Hungary, Croatia, Italy, South of France and Switzerland, in that order.  Spring season can be rainy in many of these locations and the weather somewhat unpredictable.  Based on our research, we were anticipating daily temperatures in the mid-low 60s and partially structured our route to try to hit the warmer days in these countries. 

Overall, our packing choices were a success. We each made a couple of key mistakes, which I will talk about later.  In preparing for the trip we relied on our past experience with travel as well as a lot of research from other travel blogs.  

One decision point was laundry frequency.  Ben was prepared to do it every few days, I was determined that we could go at least five days without a laundromat and he was fairly determined that we would go no more.  As a result, he packed a few more of the essentials and I packed a few less.  

Pack size was also a key decision.  Ben had done the bulk of research in this area and read a recommendation that a pack of less than 40 liters was ideal for comfort, mobility and truly just taking the essentials.  I needed a new bag and chose the Osprey Kestrel 38.  I thought I needed a larger bag (within the 40L limit), but actually would have been okay with something slightly smaller.  Other than a few times during the trip where I was hauling additional souvenirs or food, my pack was never completely full. I watched a video on how to appropriately adjust the straps and this made a world of difference for me.   My pack was awesomely comfortable and at no time in the 5.5 weeks did I suffer from sore shoulders or back due to my pack load.  This was a combination of choosing the right sized pack and adjusting it correctly.  Ben used the same back he has had for years, a Jansport that might be 33L which suits him well. The bag is quite a bit smaller than mine, but he rarely needs more space than this for any of our travels.

Footwear was the most difficult and time-consuming to select. I took full advantage of Zappos generous return policy and was ordering 2 to 4 pairs of shoes at a time to try to find the right shoe for me. I also hit up REI, Keen and Merrell websites to explore their selection. I was determined to take only two pairs of shoes – one “real” shoe and a pair of flip flops (which I was certain I could not do without).  I was trying to accomplish it all with that one pair: comfortable walking shoe, rugged enough for a few easy hikes, functional enough to dress up or down based on my needs and of course not ugly.  My other challenge is that I have large wide feet.  A square toe box is essential to avoid my little toe rubbing up against my shoe (and I’m determined to avoid any future foot surgeries and consider this requirement non-negotiable).  I ended up with a pair of Keen Rivington MJ CNX that served me well the entire trip.

Ben also purchased a few different shoes in preparation for the trip, but did not spend a lot of time testing or breaking in his new shoes.  He packed a pair of minimalist New Balances that successfully avoided the flashiness of the American athletic shoe, but were so significantly lacking comfort (especially when his feet and legs were not trained on that type of shoe) that he had to ditch the NB and bought a pair of Skechers Go Run in one of the many shoe shops in Split, Croatia.  He loves those Skechers so much that he ordered another pair of them while we were still traveling that was waiting for him when we arrived home.

We purchased nearly all of our toiletries in Europe.

Here are our detailed pack lists with notes:

Kori’s List

• 1 pair Prana Monarch convertible pants - convertible and flattering, but the stitching is coming out in a couple of places
• 1 Athleta Whatever skort – great skort but took too long to dry and was ultimately not very functional for this type of travel
• 1 pair of leggings – a simple pair of gap leggings made a great layering piece
• 1 dress - Exofficio black dress
• 1 fashion scarf
• 1 pair of capris - Eddie Bauer travel
• 2 long sleeve shirts - Exofficio Pave Shirtigan and an Athleta pullover hoodie
• 2 short sleeve shirts
• 2 tank tops – 1 cotton from Target, the other REI
• 1 columbia rain jacket
• 1 buff
• 3 pairs of socks
• 3 bras
• 5 pairs of underwear (mostly Patagonia)
• 1 pair of Keen Mary Jane
• 1 pair of flip flops (Teva Mush)
• Dramamime
• 1 medium REI pack towel

What Kori would do differently:
Things I didn't have but would pack next time: base layer long sleeve shirt, belt, lightweight gloves, knee high smart wool socks, watch (Ben had an extra that I was able to wear, invaluable).

The base layer was critical, the two long sleeved shirts I had were not enough to create warmth.  Only pack a dress if summer travel, love the dress, but wasn’t well utilized.  Bring 5 pairs of Smart Wool secret sleuth socks if I pack mary janes, the others just aren’t as comfortable or effective.  Pack two pairs of convertible pants and leave the skort at home.  Bring capris that are just as comfortable, but with belt loops. The convenience of strapping a travel wallet, camera, etc. to my waist and adjusting my clothing was awesome.  Additionally, I would confirm the quick drying quality of everything that I packed.  We did enough laundry in the room that the ability to dry over night was important.

Ben’s List

• 2 convertible pants (not cotton)
• 2 shorts (cotton blend)
• 2 short sleeved shirts (synthetic for fast dry)
• 1 base layer long sleeve shirt (fast dry)
• 1 long sleeve shirt (not cotton)
• 1 rain jacket - Mountain Hardwear
• 1 rain hat - Columbia
• 5 socks (merino wool for fast dry)
• 5 underwear 
• 2 belts - canvas with plastic buckles
• 1 pair of running shoes, dark gray color
• 1 medium REI pack towel
• 1 Eagle Creek undercover hidden pocket - this held our passports for the entire trip.  Worked well but one of the loops started to tear during our travels.
• 1 waterproof back pack cover 

What Ben would do differently:

Pack three under shirts instead of two.  Test shoes significantly before leaving.  Take 3 pairs of convertible pants instead of two pairs and one pair of shorts.  Purchase an inexpensive pocket knife on day one of the trip, it would have paid for itself over the 5.5 weeks.  The countries we visited in April and May were fairly humid so cotton clothing did not completely dry on a clothes line over night (9 hours). 

Shared Resources

• Individual packets of laundry soap
• 1 package of sea to summit pocket laundry sheets
• Rubber clothes line - not this brand specifically
• Sink stopper
• Mini Clif Bars
• Mini peanut butter (Jif to Go) - easy way to add protein to snacks on the go
• Razors
• Eagle Creek pack cubes
• Toilet seat covers
• Fiber gummies
• Travel roll of toilet paper
• Hand sanitizer
• Hand sanitizer wipes
• Kryptonite retractable cable lock – we read reviews that they were the best and we did not regret having them, the long cord also allowed us to lock the bags into our rental car in case of break in
• Sea to Summit day pack
• Titanium Spork – we used this daily, incredibly useful tool

What we would do differently:

Pack more of the hand sanitizer wipes. Don’t let Ben eat all of the peanut butter before we make it out of the U.S.  Don’t take the sink stopper, it didn’t stay in place very well and everywhere we washed had an existing stopper.  

Get a different day pack with at least one additional pocket and potentially a water proof cover.  We liked the Sea to Summit pack because of how small it packed down when not in use. However, once we were on the trip, we never put it back into it's handy pouch (we would just shove the day pack, full, into Kori’s backpack).  Additionally, the straps started to come apart at the seam early on in our trip, so it didn’t have the durability we needed.