Suitcase or backpack? Europe travellers share travel regrets on TikTok

Travellers have taken to TikTok to express regret after embarking on a big Europe trip with a large suitcase.

With its cobblestone streets, ancient buildings and winding staircases, Europe is a beautiful place but not exactly suitcase-friendly. Some travellers, however, have stubbornly embarked on multi-leg trips with wheeled suitcases and many are sharing their regret on TikTok.

One video shows a group of women pulling their bags around Croatia while the sun beats down.

“POV: You didn’t listen to your mom when she said don’t overpack and now you’re dragging a 60 pound suitcase in a city full of stairs,” the caption read.

@sarahhands

This was after MC fell off the ferry and marys suitcase wheel broke both from their suitcases being so overweight 🫶🥂 karma for not listening #travel #europe #hvar #croatia #overpacking #split #suitcases

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Posted on June 2, the video has received more than 5.8 million views and 216 comments.

One Australian shared a video explaining a “specific dilemma” that “humbled” her group, who had taken hard-cover suitcases around Europe; stairs.

The woman shared a video of her lugging a suitcase down a set of stairs that were “super narrow” and very common around Europe. “Every place we stayed at, we struggled,” she said.

@tonitellsthetruth

#FYP #tonitime #tonitravelgram #europetraveltips

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In June, another traveller posted a video claiming that, if they could share a “single piece of advice” about travel it was to skip rolling suitcase.

“Do not bring rolling luggage to Europe,” the woman said, adding that “the cobblestone streets of Italy took the lives of three out of four of the wheels”.

Plus, dragging the handle over the streets jammed it into the upright position.

Videos related to the search term “europe travel luggage” have amassed 1.7 billion views, while the even more specific search term “suitcase europe” has 4.4 million views.

Europe wasn’t the only destination where travellers had issues with their suitcases.

One traveller shared a video about the issues she faced travelling around southeast Asia for three months with a 25kg bag. Posted in April, the video showed the bag missing three wheels in Singapore.

“All the wheels of my suitcase popping off in Singapore,” she wrote.

She wasn’t the only traveller to share clips of suitcases missing wheels. In July, one man shared a video of him carrying his suitcase through an airport at the start of a seven-week trip because one of the wheels fell off.

“Only the first flight of a seven week trip,” read the caption, alongside footage of the bag.

@jblitzz

Only the first flight of a 7 week trip 😒 #budgettravel #budgetairlines #ryanair #travelfail

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Despite these videos, some travellers say they would still never travel with a soft bag or backpack.

On a video posted in April, a woman said her friend was a “stupid idiot” for packing a suitcase on a trip around Europe, showing clips of her friend struggling to carry a bag up a set of stairs.

However, one commenter said they were still supportive of suitcases, another said “packing/unpacking a soft bag each day is my idea of hell,” and a third added that she had taken a suitcase around Croatia and had “no regrets”.

“I will die on the suitcase is superior hill,” she wrote.