It has been awhile since I’ve posted anything here and I’ve done a bit of traveling. Over the last six months I’ve spent five weeks traveling in 8 countries on three continents and lived out of a 30L backpack each time. All of that and I haven’t shared a thing. Well my goal is to change that. Before I get into specific stories about my travels, I wanted to talk about backpacking in general. Some things I’ve learned the hard way and things I’m glad I learned before I left. So here it is, my top five tips or take aways from backpacking “around” the world with a small pack.

1. Choose your pack wisely

I was probably a little crazy to think I could spend two weeks in Europe with nothing but a 30L bag. Most people will tell you (and by most I mean if you literally google “backpacking around Europe” or buy a book) that you should take a 40-50L pack for anything longer than 2 weeks – 35L minimum. Reflecting back, 35L would have been best, but it was a lot of fun to watch my friend lug around a 50L as I weaved through crowds with a 30L. If you go small, make sure your pack has places to store your raincoat or jacket on the outside so you don’t take up space. If you go big, make sure you don’t over pack it (more to come on that shortly). Bottom line, always go with a smaller bag. You can carry it on the airplane and it wont get lost when you take a cheap flight from London to Prague – sorry Dave. <- yes, Dave’s bag somehow didn’t make it on the flight that we took from London to Prague. I carried on. Because I’m smarter than him obviously.

2. You don’t need that

As you start to pack your bag just remember these four words “you don’t need that.” Depending on where you’re going it’s a good bet they will have laundry mats around. So you don’t need 7 pairs of anything. The one thing you do need more of: socks. You didn’t pack enough socks. You’ll never pack enough socks. Don’t even try. If you packed 10 pairs of socks for a 5 day trip, you’d still somehow end up with no clean socks. No idea how that’s possible, but it is. In all seriousness though, DON’T OVER PACK. You need two shirts, two pants, and lets say 4 pairs of socks and underwear. Fine, three shirts if you’re trying to impress a lady on the trip. Trust me, you don’t need more than that. You’ll find a place to wash your clothes (like a sink in your room) once you start to smell. As for other items. Bring a phone, camera, a light weight book for train or bus rides, a pen and paper to take notes on, soap/shampoo, a microfiber towel and lock if you’re going the hostel route, and you’ll steal the rest. (For lawyers: I am not telling someone to actually steal anything)

3. Bring a friend

I’ve backpacked around a country alone and it is a fun experience, but nothing beats having your best friend with you as you stare off into the alps. At least someone to say “man, can you believe how beautiful this is?” and then you can reply “what are you proposing marriage or something? Take the picture, I need a new facebook pro pic.” That’s right, if you’re going to spend a thousand dollars to travel to a place, you better get at least one new facebook profile picture out of it and if you bring a selfie stick on a backpacking adventure, I will track you down and break it. So you need a friend at least for the photos. Anyway, back to the real friend part. Life is just better with someone by your side. It helps to put things in perspective. Plus, they buy half the drinks.

4. Talk to strangers

Now we’re getting into the actual traveling part. Step one: talk to as many people as you possibly can. In my opinion the best part about traveling isn’t the photos or the food or anything else like that. It’s meeting random people while eating great food. For example, sit down at a table with a middle aged German couple and start talking about traveling, the economy, and the best places to get a drink. You’ll be amazed what you learn. (Fun fact, Germans only work 35 hours a week, make more than us Americans and get more time off work.) Give them recommendations for places you’ve been before and they will do the same. They will point you to the best place to get a pint or where to watch surfing 200 miles from any ocean. They will tell you what’s really happening in their country, not what Fox News or MSNBC wants you to think is happening.

5. Make plans and don’t make plans

When you’re going somewhere make sure to plan out some general things. Best attraction or food in town according to a book or yelp, best view of the mountains, etc. However, also make sure you have a few days where you have nothing planned.  This is where you take a day trip to some small town your new drinking friends recommended or a time to just wonder the streets and get a little lost. Use this time to see the “real” parts of the place you are visiting, not just the touristy stuff. Everyone is going to hate you when you get back and start talking about your backpacking adventure, so you might as well get off the beaten path (safely) and see where people actually live. That way you can at least give everyone accurate information about the country you went to instead of what they can read online about Machu Picchu for example. I promise, some of your most memorable experiences will happen when you don’t plan for them. Bottom line: Don’t be that person who has 120% of their trip planned out down to where to eat and what to see for every minute of every day.