Confession: I can't backpack

I have been reading on the web about a sort of "match" between backpackers and "luxury" travellers. First of all, I'm not sure why who doesn't travel with a backpack is seen as a luxury-traveller. I never "luxury-travel" and I never backpack, I just travel.

I think the main difference between the two "travel-types" is meant to be the amount of money someone is able/willing to spend when travelling. One of the main aspects, apart from the type of luggage, is the diference of the places travellers choose to sleep: backpackers usually prefer hostels, other travellers stay at hotels.

These two differences aside, I don't think there's any other reason for argument.

As for myself, I'm usually quite close to a broke status, so I always travel on the cheapest budget possible, however, even if I'm aware that hostels are much cheaper than hotels and B&Bs, I can't think of staying at a eight-bed dorm (I know, I'm not twenty anymore).

Also, I'm not able to backpack. Literally. First of all, most backpacks are bigger than I am; second, I don't know how to stick all my stuff in it without messing it and crumpling my clothes.

Besides, if men have invented the wheel, why do I have to carry all my stuff on my shoulders and cause myself a sure backache, when I can easily use a trolley?

Yes, I confess, I use trolleys. They are small, easy to handle, they fit comfortably in the proper space on the buses and my clothes don't come out crumpled.

In fact, another myth is that only backpackers use the public transport. When I arrived in Ireland, my choice was between the Dublin car rental and the 16A: I didn't wait for the bus only because of money issues but also because, coming from Italy, I would have surely tended to drive on the wrong side. But this is material for another post.

My tiny black trolley? It's used to buses and any kind of adventures.

Speaking of... bad airlines

I've come across a couple of badly run airlines, but the worst one I've experienced is by all means Ryanair. When the actual ticket costs £0.00, after you're done with the booking you can easily pay £100. How is that? No idea.

Taxes, fees, online check-in, airport check-in, hand-luggage, baggage to check-in: everything has a cost. And when you think you are finished, here it comes that last surprise, you have certainly done something wrong: another fine.

I'm not a very patient person, so after two dodgy events, I deleted Ryanair from my airline-related world.

The first fact was related to the luggage weight. Ryanair is the only company that allows only 15 kg in the luggage: quite not handy, but at least we know it. Then, suddenly they changed it: passengers were allowed to check-in 20 kg each. Marvellous. So I packed my suitcase, with all the shopping from Italy and the delicacies my parents had prepared to take to London with me, very careful not to overcome the weight as Ryanair's intolerance is legendary. I arrived at the check-in stand and here was the surprise: "We got back to 15kg, you have to pay for the 5kg in excess." And why on earth didn't you email anybody about this? "Oh, I'm sure it's included in the Terms and Conditions." It was, the tiniest characters ever at the very end of a 20-page email.

Let's forget about it, at the end of the day, it was still convenient.

Shortly after that, I bought a return ticket London-Alghero and, at the end of the whole booking process, after inserting credit card information and personal details, the amount to pay was about 150 euro. I hit "confirm" and then surprise: I had payed 170 euro. Was it not 150? Too late to amend, tickets are not refundable, but at least I wanted to be sure I wasn't going completely crazy.

I did the whole process a second time: yes, I was right, the original amount was 150 euro. So where were the further 20 euro? Credit card fee? Impossible, in the figures breakdown there was already mentioned the visa fee (5£). Ok, I had got that, those 20 euro were to pay a not better identified fee, one of the many, actually.

Ryanair fees keep getting higher: hand-luggage started with 8 euro and are now 15 euro per bag. You can choose if checking-in online or at the airport, if you choose to check-in at the airport you have to pay a fee (the 5-minute labour for the employee?), and once at the airport you have to self-check-in anyway. So what's the point to pay the labour-fee?

After these and some other clues I realised that maybe it wasn't the case for me to fly with Ryanair anymore. The only thought that I could be welcomed by other surprises once at the airport, such as being refused to board because my bag has some irregularity or being forced to pay a non-foreseeable fee, just puts me off from buying a Ryanair ticket.

So I "quit" and am flying with other low-cost airlines such as Easyjet, which I found reliable, affordable, and with no last-minute surprises. So far, so good, I hope it'll keep this standard.