Any easy ways to pack for a overseas trip?

Could anybody give me any advice on this trip?

• Basically, after college me and my mate are going on a back-packing trip across mainland Europe. The idea is to use the channel tunnel to get into France with one rucksack (back pack) each and make our way to Russia. I was wondering if anyone could give tips on some 'must see' places in Europe, or things we have to do. Also, any advice on ways to sleep would be nice! Our current plan is to sleep on trains/at train stations on our way.

• Answer:

  Forget sleeping on train stations, not only it is not safe at all, it is not comfy at all, and more important, many stations close in the night and just kick you out, whether you have a place to stay or not. If you have the money, stay in hostels, if you do not have the money, reconsider traveling for this long and far. Hostels can be booked on many sites, like hostel world, as well as direct with the hostel. Couch surfing can be an option if you really do not have enough money. You contact people in the places you want to stay and see if they will host you, you pay a little fee to register at the site and nothing for a stay, although it would be nice to take a present. There are no 'must do' places in Europe apart from what you feel is must do. I do not know how you want to travel through the channel tunnel, there is no option for foot passengers there and most people will not take hitch hikers across it, because of the way the system works with registering all passengers in advance. The best ways to get across from London to France are an early booking on Eurostar, and if you are more than 3 months before travel those deals can be very good, or traveling to Dover and crossing as foot passenger. The only 'must do' for a travel like this is making a list of things you really want to see and do, talk about it with your friend and see if your ideas about traveling match. It would not work if the one of you want to visit all Europe's main museums and the other one only want to spend time on drinking. If you really want to go to Russia, remember to check on visa and restrictions. It is not as hard as it used to be, but Russia still requires visa for almost everybody and will want you to register there whereabouts. You do not tell where you are from, but if you are from the USA, as I assume from your 'after college' or from some other non European country, you will have visa restrictions in Europe as well, mostly you will be restricted to 90 days in a 180 day period in which you are allowed to travel but not to work. I am not giving you links to the sites, you should be able to find them through a search, if you can not, you should not even consider traveling Europe. Added: At 18 or 19 you will be on the young side, remember to be extra careful because of that and restrict your drinking (if you do) to places where you will be safe. I got confused as most people I know talk about A-levels or Sixt-form, but I have heard College before for that period. By crossing at Dover I mean as foot passenger on one of the Calais ferries, although there are other options. And I assume you want to use InterRail. http://www.seat61.com/ has about all you need to know about train travel, including useful routes from the UK.