Hostel owner in Prague told me my bag was why I kept paying extra, so I switched to one 28L pack
Two summers back I was paying about 8 euros per flight on Ryanair just for a checked bag, plus 5 euros some hostels charged to lock it up. The owner of a place near Andel told me straight up that my 55L pack was costing me more than my bed some nights. I swapped to a 28L carry-on and started doing laundry in the sink every 4 days with a 2 euro bar of soap. My last 12 day trip through Budapest and Vienna came in under 300 euros total for transport and bag fees. Anyone else ditch the big pack and just deal with washing clothes more often?
I once watched a guy at a hostel in Lisbon spend 20 minutes repacking a 70L bag just to find his charger, and that sold me on going small more than any fee ever did. When everything has one spot and you can see it all at once, you stop digging and stop losing things, which is worth more than the few euros saved. The sink laundry is just the trade you make for that kind of calm.