I backpacked around Europe for 6 months. Here are the items I couldn't live without — and the ones I wish I'd left behind.

Noisy neighbors and loud city streets are part of the traveling experience. Although some people like to counteract these things with earplugs, I've always found them uncomfortable as a side sleeper.

So, I brought a mini white-noise machine to drown out any music, traffic, or chatter. The little cylinder was quite loud for its size, and did a great job of masking any background noise.

I definitely had more restful sleep because of it, and it's now an essential for all my future trips.

I find the traditional hard-plastic travel containers for liquids to be quite clunky. So, for this trip, I bought a pack of flat travel pouches in different sizes.

I used the bigger bags for shampoo and body wash and the smaller ones for face wash and conditioner. I'd then refill them from larger bottles purchased during my longer stays.

Although they took a little more patience to fill, these pouches stacked up much more neatly than the bulky travel bottles I used to use.

I typically won't wear a pair of earrings or a bracelet if I can't physically see it. This presents a problem for many bag-like travel containers where the jewelry isn't laid out neatly.

When I researched other travel-jewelry options, I found that many were large and bulky, which wouldn't bode well for my limited space.

However, I saw a hack online about using a foldable pill box to store jewelry. I ordered one immediately and found it to be the perfect solution.

The packing decision I struggled with most was what shoes to bring. I decided to wear a pair of boots on the plane, pack my running shoes, and buy a pair after arriving in England to see which styles were popular there.

At the last minute, however, I panicked about only having casual footwear and jammed in a pair of foldable black ballet flats.

This was a mistake for several reasons. These flats weren't particularly comfortable, and I could feel the cobblestones dig into the sole of my foot with every step.

I also quickly realized that the footwear of choice for nearly any occasion in the UK seemed to be a good pair of sneakers. I ended up buying a simple white pair of Adidas with black stripes that went well with any outfit I chose.

While packing for my trip, my mind went to everything I'd have to charge: my laptop, smartwatch, phone, and white-noise machine.

So, I purchased a travel power strip/adapter with three ports and a long cord. I figured I'd be set for all my charging needs.

In practice, however, this big rectangle ended up being a nuisance. It was incredibly bulky, and if I plugged two or more things into it, a spark would shoot off from the plug.

I ended up throwing it out and replacing it with a high-quality cube adapter. This much-lighter converter had a three-prong port and several USB slots, which suited my needs just fine.

If anything, I'd bring two cube adapters next time to have one in the bedroom and one in the living room.

This story was originally published on February 4, 2025 and most recently updated on January 28, 2026.