Hostel in Barcelona back in 2012 changed how I think about packing

Stayed at a place where the lockers were too small for my 50L pack, so I ended up carrying my daily stuff in a grocery bag for a week. Has anyone else had a trip where the luggage situation just completely backfired?

2 comments

2 Comments

parker_patel8422d ago

Oh man, I had a buddy who went to Thailand with one of those hard-shell suitcases thinking it would be "indestructible" or whatever. First day in Bangkok he hopped on a tuk tuk and the handle snapped off, then a wheel broke on a cobblestone street near Khao San Road. He spent the rest of his trip carrying this busted thing like a weird upturned turtle, and by the end he just duct-taped a backpack strap to it so he could sling it over his shoulder. Total disaster, but he still jokes about how it taught him to just bring a duffel bag and a roll of trash bags for dirty laundry.

matthewross22d ago

Goodness, that story about your buddy and his suitcase really reminded me of something. My cousin once bought one of those expensive "travelpro" suitcases for a trip to Italy, swore it was built like a tank. First cobblestone street in Rome, one of the wheels just sheared right off. He ended up dragging it like a wounded animal through Florence and Venice, and by the time he got to the Amalfi Coast, the whole side was cracked and he had to bungee cord it closed. He says he still has the receipt and thinks about writing the company a letter every time he packs for a trip, but he just uses a soft-sided bag now. It's funny how we all learn that lesson the hard way, isn't it.