Sixteen days. Four countries. One backpack full of memories. Nearly 308,000 steps and an infinite number of memories to last a lifetime. Looking back now, the numbers tell part of the story, but not the most important parts. They don’t explain what it felt like to chase trains across Europe with my best friend. Watch the sunset over Budapest. Hike to the town of Werfen for breathtaking views of the Austrian Alps. And discover that getting lost often leads to the most memorable moments.
So, why Europe? Before this trip, my experience with international travel was quite limited. I had previously studied abroad in Europe, visiting two countries, and my family had traveled to Canada the year prior. However, I had never truly experienced traveling in Europe independently or with just a close friend. Every trip I’d taken had been carefully planned with either a study abroad group or my family of five. Everything changed when my best friend, Tina, relocated to Albania for the summer and invited me to come visit.
What started as a simple invitation quickly turned into the backpacking adventure of a lifetime, creating a backpack full of memories across four countries.
Tina and I had dreamed about traveling together for years. When the opportunity finally presented itself, I knew I had to make it happen. We wanted to experience as much of Europe as possible without spending a fortune, so we embraced the backpacker’s mindset. Instead of checking suitcases, we packed everything we needed for sixteen days into a single backpack each. At first, the idea seemed a little intimidating. How could sixteen days’ worth of clothes, toiletries, and essentials possibly fit into one bag?
Packing light gave us something much more valuable than extra outfits: it gave us freedom.
We hopped on trains without worrying about heavy luggage and navigated crowded city streets with ease. Plus, we changed our plans whenever a new adventure presented itself. With our backpacks strapped on and an itinerary that stretched across four countries, we had no idea that the next sixteen days would challenge us, surprise us, and leave us with a backpack full of memories we’ll be telling for years to come.
I began my journey in Albania. Tina had been living in the coastal city of Durrës for several months. After arriving at Tirana International Airport, I had about a 30-minute drive to meet her. Somewhere along that drive, it finally hit me that we were actually doing this. Just two months earlier, this trip had been nothing more than an idea. Now I was in a country I had never visited before on my way to reunite with one of my closest friends after months apart. The excitement was almost impossible to put into words. Everything that had once felt so far away suddenly became real.
The timing of my arrival couldn’t have been more perfect. That evening, Durrës’ city center was filled with people gathered around a giant outdoor screen to watch the World Cup. Locals and travelers sat shoulder to shoulder, cheering for their teams, creating an atmosphere that immediately made me feel welcome. It was the perfect way to begin our adventure. Before our backpacking journey had even truly started, we were already meeting people from around the world. Some were from countries we would soon visit ourselves.
The greatest gift of starting in Albania was having a full week to settle and explore.
Instead of rushing from landmark to landmark, I experienced the life my friend has built. I met the people she had grown close to, visited her favorite spots, and got a glimpse of what everyday life looked like in a place that has become her temporary home. During that week, we explored four very different cities: Durrës, Tirana, Vlorë, and Berat. Each had its own personality. The coastal cities of Durrës and Vlorë were exactly what I imagined when I pictured the Adriatic Sea. Crystal-clear blue water, lively beach clubs, incredible food, and evenings spent walking along the waterfront made it impossible not to fall in love with.
Tirana, on the other hand, offered a completely different experience. I found myself drawn to its architecture, from the beautiful mosques to the Postbllok Memorial, where pieces of Albania’s communist past are preserved as a reminder of how far the country has come. What surprised me most about Albania wasn’t just its natural beauty but its history.
Everywhere we went, there were reminders of the country’s past. Historic photographs, monuments, museums, and memorials told stories of resilience and the everyday lives of Albanians before the fall of communism. History wasn’t tucked away in textbooks. Instead, it was woven into the streets, buildings, and ruins. Learning about that history gave every place we visited a deeper meaning.
Beyond the history, I was equally struck by the warmth of the people. It’s one of the most important things in my backpack full of memories.
Albanian hospitality is something I’ll never forget. Whether we were enjoying a meal at a local restaurant, asking for directions, or simply exploring a new city, everyone we met was welcoming and eager to share their country. One of my favorite memories happened in Vlorë when we stopped at a coffee shop, Kafe 1912. We quickly learned that the owners, Tony and Kendall, were an American couple from Greenville, South Carolina. They had lived less than two hours from where I live, but moved across the world to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for the last four years, and recently relocated to Albania to open a coffee shop on the coast.
As we looked around, we realized they weren’t the only Americans who had chosen to call Albania home. The café was filled with more people from the Greenville area, Charlotte, North Carolina and other areas in the United States. All of them had built new lives in Albania. It was heartwarming to see how they had created a community together. Thousands of miles away from where they grew up, they had found a place that felt like home while still holding onto the connections that reminded them of where they came from. The owner even started to play “Sandstorm” over the speakers as we sipped our drinks. For a second, I thought I was sitting in the middle of a USC football game! Moments like that reminded me that travel isn’t just about seeing beautiful places.
Travel is about the the people you meet along the way. The unexpected stories that will stay with you long after you’ve returned home, tucked into your backpack full of memories.
By the end of the week, Albania was far more than just the starting point of our backpacking journey. It defied my expectations and revealed a captivating culture. It reminded me that some of the most memorable destinations are often the ones you know the least about. As I packed my backpack for the second time, before I knew it, we headed to Germany.
Our adventure was only just beginning… at 3 o’clock in the morning! We headed to the airport in the dead of night, boarded our plane, and landed in Serbia. From there, we navigated the airport for our connecting flight and landed in Germany a couple of hours later.
After a week of slower living in Albania, Germany greeted us with an entirely different energy. The relaxed pace of the Adriatic coast gave way to busy streets, modern skyscrapers, and fast-paced energy.
The city itself offered a fascinating contrast between old and new. One moment we were walking through Frankfurt’s modern skyline. The next, we found ourselves wandering through Römerberg, the city’s charming historic square lined with eye-catching, colorful half-timbered buildings. We enjoyed a cup of Häagen-Dazs ice cream and ordered two Heineken beers.
One of our favorite spontaneous adventures was taking a quick train ride to Heidelberg.
Looking back, we probably didn’t give ourselves enough time there… but maybe that’s what made this little excursion so memorable. We squeezed every minute out of our visit. As we raced through the beautiful old town and sprinted back to the train station, we realized for the first time how carefully we needed to manage our time. The backpack full of memories was almost full, but not quite.
Backpacking isn’t always glamorous. Sometimes it’s running through unfamiliar streets with backpacks bouncing behind you. But those are often the moments you laugh about the most afterward. Our final day in Germany was the one we had been looking forward to for months. We spent the day at Love Family Park, a music festival held in Frankfurt’s Rebstock Park. My friend and I hadn’t been to a music festival together since 2019. Sharing that experience again felt incredibly special.
Even more exciting was seeing one of our favorite artists, BUNT, perform in his home country. Hearing his music surrounded by thousands of German fans gave the performance a completely different atmosphere, different than anything we’d experienced before. Being there in person was way more exciting than the videos of German electronic music festivals online. The energy was contagious. The music, the lights, and the crowd created an experience that was impossible to describe unless you lived it.
A sense of freedom connected everyone, even if we didn’t all speak the same language.
As the night came to an end, my friend and I looked at each other, knowing we’d just experienced one of the highlights of our entire trip. We left Germany exhausted, inspired, and still riding the high of a day we’ll never forget. After Germany’s nonstop energy, Austria offered a different kind of adventure. We still had the same fire to see as much as possible, but for the first time on the trip, we slowed down just enough to truly appreciate where we were.
Continuing our backpack full of memories, in Salzburg, a city that must have been pulled straight from the pages of a storybook.
It was charming, walkable, and alive with music at every corner. In just a few hours, it seemed like we had explored almost every corner of the city. We made it a priority to visit the Mirabell Gardens and several filming locations of “The Sound of Music.” We also stopped by Mozart’s birthplace, where the city’s appreciation for one of its greatest composers is still very much alive. Street musicians filled the squares with music, creating an atmosphere that made Salzburg feel almost magical, adding immesurably to my backpack full of memories.
The following morning, my friend and I each explored the city in our own ways. She started her day with a run followed by a swim in one of Austria’s crystal-clear lakes. I took a slower approach, wandering the quiet streets before making my way up to Hohensalzburg Fortress. Looking out over the rooftops of Salzburg, I couldn’t help but appreciate how different each stop on our journey had been. Every country had its own rhythm, and Austria’s invited us to pause even if only for a little while.
Later that afternoon, we took another train to Werfen. In Heidelberg, we nearly missed our train, and to avoid repeating that, we allotted much more time than necessary, walking at a pace that could only be described as a sprint. Our backpacks bounced behind us as we hurried up the mountain, laughing at how quickly we‘d gone from one extreme to the other. Every step was worth it!
At the top, we found ourselves standing at the filming location where Maria taught the Von Trapp children “Do-Re-Mi.”
Surrounded by panoramic views of the Austrian Alps, it was one of those moments that no photograph could ever fully capture. For years, we’d talked about traveling together, imagining places like this from behind our phone screens. Now we were standing in the middle of it all, surrounded by towering mountains that made us feel wonderfully small.
One of the most unexpected memories from Werfen came from a fellow traveler we met along the trail. We wanted to take a picture near a herd of dairy cows. Without hesitating, she casually walked over and moved them out of the way as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. We looked at her in amazement, and she laughed and explained. She was originally from New Zealand but was currently working as a dairy farmer in the United Kingdom. We spent a few minutes swapping travel stories before finding a pair of daybeds overlooking the valley.
There, with the Austrian Alps stretching endlessly in every direction, we finally stopped moving.
Backpacking often feels like you’re chasing the next train, the next city, or the next landmark. Lying there in silence, surrounded by mountains that had stood for thousands of years, I was reminded that sometimes the most meaningful part of travel is simply being present. Places like Werfen have a way of making you feel incredibly small in the best possible way. They remind you just how vast the world is and how much of it is still waiting for you to explore. I put this notion in my backpack full of memories!
On our final day in Austria, we boarded yet another train then ferried across Lake Hallstatt to visit one of the most photographed villages in the world.
I’d seen countless pictures before arriving, but nothing prepared me for seeing it with my own eyes. The moment we stepped off the ferry, the only word either of us could manage was, “Wow.” For the rest of the day, we wandered the tiny village with our jaws practically on the ground. The colorful homes tucked beneath the mountains, the flower-filled balconies, the crystal-clear lake reflecting the surrounding peaks almost didn’t feel real. It felt as though we had stepped into a postcard.
As we had done several times throughout the trip, my friend and I eventually split up to explore on our own, each taking in Hallstatt at our own pace. A few hours later, she came walking toward me completely soaked from head to toe. “What happened?” I asked, trying not to laugh. With the biggest smile on her face, she casually told me she had jumped into the lake fully clothed off of a diving board. There was no dramatic reason behind it. She simply decided that there was no way she was leaving Hallstatt without swimming in its crystal-clear water at least once.
I couldn’t stop laughing. That moment perfectly captured who she is. Her willingness to embrace the unexpected and live without regrets reminded me why traveling with her was so much fun. Looking back, I don’t think either of us will remember exactly what we ate that day or every street we wandered. But we’ll always remember standing speechless as the ferry approached us, and I’ll always remember watching my best friend walk toward me, completely drenched, grinning from ear to ear because she’d refused to let fear or dry clothes keep her from fully experiencing the moment.
As we boarded the train from Austria to Budapest, the excitement of reaching another country was mixed with a new feeling neither of us had experienced.
We knew we were nearing the end of our journey. Arriving in Budapest just after noon, we promptly dropped off our backpacks and set out to explore, eager to make the most of our last destination. By this point, though, sixteen days of constant walking, early mornings, late nights, and chasing trains had begun to catch up with us.
A few hours into exploring, I found myself in the middle of a souvenir shop with legs that simply refused to cooperate any longer. Without even thinking, I sat… well, more accurately, collapsed right onto the floor while my friend laughed. After nearly 308,000 steps across four countries, my body officially decided it was done. As if exhaustion wasn’t enough, we somehow managed to board a train without purchasing the correct tickets. Ticket Inspectors greeted us a few stops later. Instead of ending the day frustrated, we couldn’t help but laugh. It had become just another story to add to the growing list of travel mishaps that somehow made the trip even more memorable, adding to our backpack full of memories.
That evening, we warmed up with bowls of traditional Hungarian goulash, then finally admitted defeat and headed back to our hotel for a much-needed reset before our final full day.
On our last day, we set out with one goal: leave nothing unexplored.
We wandered the streets of Budapest from morning until night, crossing the Danube, climbing to Fisherman’s Bastion, and soaking in every last view. As the sun set behind the Hungarian Parliament Building, we stood quietly, watching the city glow in shades of gold and orange. It was the perfect ending. Later that evening, we traded historic streets for Budapest’s famous ‘ruin bars.’ Here, the people had transformed abandoned buildings into some of the most unique nightlife venues in the world. It was a fitting way to celebrate everything the past two weeks had been—unexpected, vibrant, and unforgettable.
When I think about this trip, my mind doesn’t immediately go to the countries we visited or the landmarks we saw. Instead, I recall the moments in between: rushing through Heidelberg to catch a train; relaxing on a daybed with a view of the Austrian Alps and realizing Tina and I were actually living the adventure we’d dreamed of for years.
I think about my best friend jumping into Lake Hallstatt fully clothed because she refused to leave with any regrets. I think about collapsing onto the floor of a souvenir shop in Budapest after pushing my body farther than I ever had before and beyond. These are the memories I’ll cherish. These are the memories that don’t fit neatly into an itinerary.
In sixteen days, we traveled through four countries, explored ten cities, walked nearly 308,000 steps, rode trains, ferries, buses, trams, and planes, attended a German music festival, took more than 6,000 photos, and came home with countless stories we’ll tell for years.
If this trip taught me anything, it’s that the best parts of travel are rarely the ones you plan. It’s the things I’m bringing home in my backpack full of memories.
Conversations with strangers become part of your story, and encountering wrong turns can bring about unforgettable views—moments that make you stop, observe your surroundings, and quietly reflect, “I can’t believe I’m here.” Travel has a way of creating experiences that make the world feel both impossibly large and surprisingly small.
Over sixteen days of travel, I learned that every place has a story. Every story is worth listening to. Every journey has the power to change how you see the world and yourself. As I boarded my flight home, I wasn’t just bringing back souvenirs or passport stamps. I was bringing back a new appreciation for saying yes to opportunities, embracing the unexpected, and chasing the adventures I’ve always dreamed about. Sometimes all it takes is one backpack, one best friend, and one decision to buy the plane ticket to create memories that will last a lifetime.
My name is Meredith Carroll, I am 25 years old and I am a residential architectural designer based in Columbia, South Carolina. With a passion for design, travel, creativity, and adventure, I love finding inspiration in the architecture, culture, and everyday life of the places I visit and the people I get to meet. I have always been drawn to beautiful spaces and the stories behind them, which has made exploring new cities and experiencing different cultures especially meaningful to me. Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with family and friends, discovering new places, and planning my next adventure. I believe some of the best memories come from stepping outside your comfort zone, saying yes to new experiences, and making the most of wherever life takes you.
Travel Notes
As a travel writer, I couldn’t be prouder to share Meredith’s story on my website. She is my niece, after all, and like me, she’s been bitten by the travel bug. Plus, among her many talents, she has a knack for storytelling. So much so that I felt like I was on the journey with her. I suspect that over the years, she’ll add many more to her backpack full of memories.
Eddie and I had a serendipitous moment with friends in Madrid. Enjoy this story from Travel Notes and Storytelling for more of Europe’s cultural landscape.
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