• I spent two weeks backpacking through Europe for the first time in October 2022. • I found that it wasn't the glamorous, romantic adventure it often looks like on Instagram. • While backpacking, I was disappointed by overnight train rides and crowds of tourists in each city.

Epic photos of backpackers posing in otherwise empty cityscapes and natural scenes are all over Instagram. The captions often say something about life being an adventure.

But traveling with just a backpack never appealed to me before 2022. There were always too many layers, shoes, and baseball caps I wanted to pack.

Since I began taking more trips as a travel reporter for Business Insider four years ago, I've realized I needed to lighten my load to make it easier to hit the road for longer periods.

I prioriti

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