This post is sponsored by Nomatic.  However, all thoughts and opinions, are 100% my own.

I’ve heard the term, “Backpacking through Europe,” countless times in my life, and up until recently, I honestly thought it meant people were taking a tent, sleeping bag, and a backpack, and literally backpacking across the mountains in Europe. It wasn’t until our trip to Europe two years ago, where I finally understood what was meant by “Backpacking through Europe.”

Traveling in Europe can be difficult, especially with a large family. Many of the streets are cobblestone, trains don’t have a lot of room for luggage, hotel rooms are small, and large taxis/Ubers aren’t readily available to fit a family of 5 along with their large amounts of luggage.

Europe Trip 2017

When we went to Europe two years ago, I was unaware of these difficulties. Each of us packed a full size suitcase, as well as a carry-on size piece of luggage.  To say we had a difficult time getting around would be an understatement.  When we were in London, each time we went to or from the Train Station, we had to take two Taxi’s, because there just wasn’t a taxi large enough to fit us and our luggage.  The hotel room was so small, that we literally could barely open the door, because our luggage sat on all available floor space.

So fast forward two years and we once again, decided to vacation in Europe.  As soon as we booked our trip to Italy, I knew there was no way we could make the same mistake with our luggage as we did last time. I knew for this trip, we needed to find a way to consolidate all our stuff into two suitcases, or better yet, backpacks.

So back to Backpacking through Europe. If you’re smarter than me, you probably already knew that the phrase, “Backpacking through Europe,” does not mean what I had envisioned. What it actually is, in place of a suitcase, the traveler uses a large backpack (bigger than your school backpack) so they can easily travel on planes, trains, taxis, and not have to roll their suitcase over bridges, stairs, and cobblestone. Genius!

I began scouring the web trying to find the perfect travel backpack for our trip. There were many options, some too big, a lot too small, but I finally came across the backpack I knew would be perfect.  There is a company (and it just so happens to be in Utah, where I live) by the name of Nomatic that specializes in backpacks for travel. They have many options, but the one I was interested in, is their Nomataic 40L Travel bag. This bag is carry-on size, fits 3-7 days’ worth of clothing, has pockets for your laptop/tablet, shoes, socks/underwear, and water bottle, as well as a safe pocket that you can lock (think passports).  The backpack is waterproof, has a sternum strap, as well as a waist strap, for easy backpacking. Also included, is a laundry bag, so you have a place for your dirty clothing. The bag also has handles, if you choose to carry the bag by hand. It’s perfect and I had to have it.

Now let me tell you a trick I learned from a friend.  If you roll your clothes instead of folding them, you are able to fit a lot more in your backpack or suitcase.  The Nomatic 40L Travel Bag claims to have enough room to fit clothing for 3-7 days. However, with my rolling technique, I was able to fit all my clothes for our 11 day trip.  Yes, you read that right!  Eleven outfits along with all my underwear, socks, a swimsuit and coverup, a jacket, laptop, and a pair of sandals.

I still don’t think I took full advantage of all the different pockets and compartments for organizing all of my stuff, but I intend to use this backpack for a long, long time so I will have plenty of opportunities to make the most of it.  I can’t recommend this highly enough as the best way to travel, whether by plane, train, or automobile, it is the best solution for luggage.

Nomatic has been generous enough to offer my followers a 10% discount with code: MINDIE10. This code is good from now until September 3^rd.