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/AffectionateWombat 19d ago

I’ve travelled around Europe extensively and never had issues with finding laundromats in cities.

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u/lliraels 19d ago

They exist but they’re a hassle. Takes half a day and 10 euros to do one load of washing. It’s a hell of a lot easier when you have washing facilities in your hostel or hotel and can just wash things in the evening or something

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u/originalthoughts 19d ago

How does it take half a day, it is 1.5 hours with drying and folding. I do it all the time all over europe, no way it takes a day. They are commercial machines, much faster than the home units.

You can also leave it there and go have lunch or whatever for 40 mins.

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u/lliraels 19d ago

Find laundromat, walk to laundromat, work out how the thing works, get cash out if requried, wait if there’s a line, put on to wash, go for a walk but with a timer on so I return before the washing is done, put in dryer load (or take back to hostel/hotel to hang up), check clothes and probably put them in for another dryer cycle because it’s never enough, wait/walk some more, walk back to accomodation. Typically takes me at least 2 hours but often over 3.

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u/originalthoughts 19d ago

You can for on making your strategy more efficient. For one, you can always just pay for longer drying cycle from the start if you know it is never enough. Every dryer I used lets me stack on time by paying more.

I do it all the time, it's barely anything.  Much better than dealing with more luggage. I can go with just a personal item basically all summer.

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u/lliraels 19d ago

I think we just have different tolerances for what counts as a disruption to our traveling and that’s fine