I think it's funny the way you made a story out of the difficulty of these two ladies--the way you followed their progress (lack of progress) and raised the experience to an observation on travel culture.

The first time I went to Europe as a young woman I carried an enormous suitcase. I felt like Sisyphus. That suitcase plagued me everywhere I went.

Last time I went to Europe (2000) it was with my sister. We are similar in build and weight. I shopped at a specialty store for washable, foldable, lightweight clothes. One set of clothes for the two of us. While we didn't backpack, luggage wasn't an issue because we just traveled light. We were away for three weeks and I have no memory of the luggage at all :)