Disappointing photos show what it’s really like to backpack across Europe
In an eye-opening account, Business Insider’s Joey Hadden shares her experience of backpacking through Europe for the first time, revealing that the reality of travel often starkly contrasts with the glamorous portrayals seen on social media. Hadden embarked on a two-week journey across Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland, initially excited about the minimalist travel style she had adopted. However, she quickly found herself grappling with the challenges that come with backpacking—like cramped overnight train rides, limited wardrobe options, and the constant need to do laundry. Despite her efforts to pack light, the reality of fitting her work essentials into a 32-liter backpack meant sacrificing comfort and variety in her clothing choices. This led to a cycle of washing clothes almost daily in tiny Airbnbs, adding stress to her already exhausting travel days.
Beyond the struggles of packing and laundry, Hadden faced the harsh realities of overnight train travel, which she had hoped would maximize her exploration time. Instead, she found herself in cramped shared cabins where privacy was non-existent, leading to sleepless nights and fatigue upon arrival in new cities. Her experiences were compounded by navigating through bustling crowds at popular tourist sites, which often left her feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. Despite these challenges, Hadden discovered that each city had its unique charm and character, from the vibrant streets of Berlin to the enchanting gardens of Vienna. Ultimately, while her backpacking adventure was not the idyllic journey she had envisioned, it taught her valuable lessons about flexibility in travel and the importance of managing expectations. Looking ahead, she plans to avoid busy seasons, shared accommodations, and overnight rides, but remains open to the idea of backpacking again, appreciating the good memories that emerged alongside the hardships.
Business Insider’s reporter expected an Instagram-like backpacking adventure in Europe, but the reality was much less glamorous.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
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 prioritized the
minimalist travel
style in August 2022, when I spent a week
backpacking for the first time
through Eastern Canada. It turned out to be much easier — and more efficient — than I’d originally thought.
So, when I planned a two-week train trip through four European countries two months later, I pushed myself to fit everything I needed into my backpack again.
I spent two weeks backpacking across Germany, Austria, Italy, and Switzerland while exploring the cities of Berlin, Vienna, Venice, Rome, Milan, and Zurich. It was my first time visiting each country and
backpacking in Europe
.
I slept in
shared train cabins
and
budget Airbnbs
, and initially, I felt like I was living the life of young adults on a
gap year
. But I quickly realized it wasn’t as glamorous as I expected it to be.
After backpacking Europe, I found that the travel style was full of hardships I rarely see posts about.
First, I found that my biggest backpack couldn’t squeeze in all the clothes I wanted to bring.
Everything the author packed for her two-week trip to Europe.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
I picked my largest bag — a 32-liter backpack — for my trip to Europe.
I wasn’t sure how well this bag would work for a
two-week trip
, so I practiced packing as lightly as possible to ensure I could fit everything.
I started with my essential work gear — a laptop, cameras, lenses, and a notebook. Then, I packed chargers, toiletries, and snacks before realizing my work gear and other essentials were taking priority over clothes.
I hoped to bring two
packing cubes
full of clothing, but I could only fit one. This cut my proposed wardrobe in half.
I ended up packing two polos, one T-shirt, one long-sleeve T-shirt, three pairs of pants, a sweater, a blazer, a dress, and two light jackets.
Although I impressed myself by packing lighter than ever while still having everything I needed for the longest trip I’d ever taken, I couldn’t help feeling disappointed in my limited outfit choices.
Because I could only bring a few garments, I had to do laundry at nearly every accommodation.
The authors laundry in Germany (left), Austria (top), and Italy (bottom).
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
I’ve never seen a backpacking social-media post about doing laundry, but I found myself washing my clothes at nearly every Airbnb I stayed in.
I stayed in each accommodation for just one or two nights, so to ensure my clothes would be dry before checking out, I had to prioritize doing laundry as soon as I checked in.
I brought my own laundry soap and used sinks and bathtubs to wash each garment before hanging them up to dry.
This was a bummer since I often arrived at each accommodation feeling exhausted from travel, and washing my clothes was the last thing I felt like doing.
Coming home to tiny Airbnbs with wet clothes everywhere stressed me out after a day of exploring.
The author’s messy accommodations in Austria (L) and Germany (R).
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
From a
converted wine barrel
outside Zurich to an
Airstream trailer in Vienna
, most of my Airbnbs were
tiny homes
with less than 100 square feet of space. So, the slightest bit of clutter made them look like a total mess. Having my clothes hanging to dry made the spaces feel even more chaotic.
Each time I returned to my accommodations, I was greeted with a disheveled space that made me feel stressed out. Since I’d worked hard to keep my apartment looking spotless at home, I wasn’t used to living in a cluttered space. I found it hard to relax in these rooms after tiring days of exploring.
I thought a sleeper train would be a smart way to arrive in new cities and maximize my time, but these shared cabins felt cramped and uncomfortable.
The author rides a Nightjet sleeper train in Europe.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
I booked two
overnight trains
during my trip to free up daylight hours for exploring.
But I didn’t anticipate how challenging it would be to get a good night’s rest in a small, shared space.
To get from Vienna to Venice, I booked a
bunk in a shared cabin
on an overnight train run by the Nightjet rail line, which operates overnight routes between Austria, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.
Since I booked a shared room with up to five others, I expected to feel slightly cramped, but I still thought I’d have some space to move around the room.
However, the 74-square-foot cabin didn’t feel like enough space for myself and the other travelers, especially with everyone’s luggage. Our cabin only had four people in it, and I thought it would have been even more uncomfortable had it been fully booked with six people.
There was space for bags above the beds, but not enough for everyone. I couldn’t do much more than sit in my bunk and quickly became disappointed by my choice to travel this way.
I was also surprised by the lack of privacy inside the shared bunk cabin on the train.
The author’s shared sleeper cabin on an overnight train from Austria to Italy.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
Before my trip, I imagined each bunk in the shared cabin on the sleeper train would have a curtain for privacy. However, the beds were completely exposed, so I had to go to the bathroom to change into my pajamas privately.
I also had to wake another traveler using the top bunk in the middle of the night to use the bathroom since the room’s lock was only accessible from their bunk.
After this experience, I don’t think I’ll ever bunk with strangers on an overnight train again, especially since some Nightjet routes have
private cabins
.
“Offering our passengers a high level of travel comfort is an important concern for us,” a representative for OBB Nightjet told Business Insider. “We are constantly working on improvements to our product and also take into account the requirements of our customers.”
My experience was even worse on the other overnight train I took, where I booked a regular seat and didn’t sleep at all.
The author restless on an overnight train from Germany to Austria.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
On my other overnight train from Berlin to Vienna, I had an even harder time sleeping. I sat in a
seating carriage room
with six seats facing each other, which is Nightjet’s version of standard coach seating.
During my leg of the journey, three travelers were already there when I boarded, and two others arrived within the first few hours. Right away, I thought the room was cramped and lacked enough legroom for each traveler.
The seat appeared slightly wider than a typical train coach seat, with two cushions. It also reclined, though not fully. I reclined mine as much as possible, but I thought the gap between the seat back and the bottom of the seat made it tough to get comfortable.
When I tried to sleep, I found it impossible with the constant bumps on the ride and so many people around. I ended up staying up until the morning and regretted traveling overnight.
“The quality of travel depends not only on the carriages but also on the route,” OBB Nightjet wrote in a statement to Business Insider. “We recommend the sleeper or couchette car for night travel. There is enough space to stretch out. Seated carriages are recommended for shorter journeys.”
While some influencers might like this type of travel, I’ll stick to daytime routes next time if I can’t sleep flat on a bed in a private room.
I often arrived in each country feeling exhausted from lack of sleep, which made it harder to enjoy my time in each place.
The author arrives in Vienna.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
Because I had so much trouble sleeping on both overnight train rides, I often arrived in a new city feeling depleted instead of excited and ready to start exploring.
When I got to Vienna at 7 a.m. after a sleepless night in the seating carriage, I was so exhausted that I looked for any hotel that would take me in so early in the morning. I thought this made the overnight ride ultimately not worth the time saved, since I didn’t do anything when I arrived other than sleep.
When I got off the train in Venice, I had enough energy to explore since I had gotten some sleep in the bunk, but I still felt fatigued, and it took away from how much I could enjoy that first day.
As a result, my first day in both cities felt disappointing, and my plan to save time and energy backfired. I couldn’t help thinking I wasted two days that could have been spent feeling more appreciative of the city surrounding me had I gotten enough rest.
In fact, a lot of my trip was more physically draining than I anticipated because my backpack made my body sore.
The author sores her back from carrying her bag.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
On travel days, I had to carry my backpack for long periods. I wore it on the go to catch my train. When I arrived in a new city, I had to keep it on my back until I could check into my accommodation. And then, I’d repeat the entire process when I checked out before catching a train to my next destination.
Each day, after wearing my backpack while walking for extended periods, my muscles felt incredibly sore.
In these moments, I was surprised to find myself questioning if a backpack really is more convenient than a
carry-on suitcase
. Sure, a carry-on suitcase is larger and often needs to be wheeled around, but after lugging around my backpack all day, I felt it would have been easier and better for my body. Plus, I’d be able to pack more.
Large crowds made having a backpack even harder. I thought traveling in October — the end of shoulder season — would help me avoid this, but I was wrong.
Narrow alleys were filled with people in Europe.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
In most photos of backpackers I see on Instagram, it looks like they’re completely alone in a dramatic scene, whether it’s a scenic landscape or a major tourist attraction.
However, even though I visited during the shoulder season, this was not the case. From Rome to Zurich, I trudged through places that were overrun with tourists.
Throughout my trip, I stood on tippy toes to see popular historic sites above rows of heads obscuring my view. Even getting just one photo of myself at tourist hot spots, like the
Colosseum in Rome
, felt nearly impossible. And since I’m 5-foot-3, I found it hard to see over the heads and smartphones of the people around me.
I also wasn’t used to the weight and size of my backpack, which made it challenging to get around. In crowded spaces, I kept forgetting that the backpack made me about a third larger than I typically am. I bumped into people with my pack in busy streets and train stations before realizing I needed to reconsider how I was taking up space.
Next time I plan a trip to Europe, I’ll visit in the offseason for fewer crowds.
While it wasn’t a picture-perfect adventure, backpacking through Europe made me realize that you can’t plan out every second, and maybe that’s a good thing.
The author backpacks in Europe.
Joey Hadden/Business Insider
While there were a handful of hardships, backpacking in Europe was also full of good surprises.
For example, I initially thought seeing so many new places in a short time would make them blend together in my mind, but each city felt genuinely unique and left me with distinct memories. And without my backpack, I probably wouldn’t have been able to travel to as many places in one trip.
I’ll never forget how alive Berlin felt with its lush pockets of greenery, dramatic murals, and street performers, or how Vienna’s garden mazes and fairy tale architecture made me feel like royalty — even with a turtle shell on my back.
Ultimately, I thought the good surprises outweighed the bad, so I would definitely backpack in Europe again. But next time, I’ll avoid shared accommodations, overnight rides, and the busy season.
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