We (not pictured) packed way too much for our European travels and ended up regretting it.
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My wife and I had just arrived in Amsterdam, the first stop on our three-week European trip with about 10 destinations.As we stepped off the train, we prepared to bask in the "we made it halfway across the world from Reno" feeling as we embarked on a peaceful canalside walk to our hotel.Instead, we walked straight into SAIL Amsterdam 2025 alongside about 2 million of our closest friends. We had no idea the massive festival was happening.Navigating all the crowds would've been fine … if we hadn't packed as though Europe might run out of clothes.I'm a contingency planner by profession, which made things worse. I'd packed two sport coats, four pairs of shoes, two neckties, a London Fog overcoat, and my masterpiece: a clothing steamer. I used the steamer exactly zero times on the whole trip.Meanwhile, my backpack contained basically my entire work life: two laptops, an iPad Pro, chargers, adapters, and enough cords to wire a small data center. I also brought a "mini studio" for recording keynotes — a tiny tripod, portable mics, and a headset — plus a camera bag with more lenses than any normal person needs.My wife and I managed to hit 49.9 pounds (just under the 50-pound limit) on both checked bags, which felt like we were winning at travel. Then we tried carrying them — plus two overloaded carry-ons each — and instantly proved ourselves wrong.
