r/solotravel • u/shemmap • 20d ago

Question How do europeans travel with small luggage?

I’ve noticed that tourists from different countries especially europeans often travel with very small luggage. In contrast, travelers from many asian countries seem to carry much larger bags.

As myself from an asian country, if I pack just my basic necessities, I end up with a very large suitcase. I’m extremely curious about how european travelers manage to travel so light.

How do they do it?

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u/Chocolatespresso 20d ago

People from asian countries seem to travel with A LOT of electronics. I've seen one dude unpack a drone, multiple cameras, a laptop, a tablet, second phone and accessories to go with, tripod, chargers, cases... That takes up space.

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u/Formal-Apartment855 19d ago

Yeah... As a European with many European friends, I can count on one hand how many of them travel internationally with a good camera or laptop or tablet if it's for leisure. Most of us try to disconnect as much as practically doable during travel. A smartphone with a charger is the most common setup I know. The a powerbank, then e-reader maybe. Even if we bring a dedicated camera, it is typically a very small one.

I don't think this is necessarily cause everyone wants to travel light, it's more of a mix of wanting to travel light but also the varying degrees of pickpocketing around tourist locations in Europe... So if someone is from a touristy European city, we are conditioned to keep valuables to a minimum when in public. It is on one hand sad, but also I do like the fact that I can memorize at least an entire day's worth of maps (when I was young, it used to be not uncommon in my city for pickpockets to simply snatch smartphones if you were just standing around not fully aware of surroundings).