Hi folks, I have a bit of a unique situation. I will be doing a residency in North Carolina in July for ten days and there is no air conditioning.

I'm looking to maximize my coolness at all costs*, while not going beyond a standard carry-on (I will have to fly there).

I have a small (maybe 3" diameter) portable USB charging fan which I will bring. Can any of you beautiful packing savants come up with a combination of fan and bag that will fit together and leave me room for clothes?

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*within reason

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I will also entertain any other suggestions at staying cool while traveling beyond the wet wash cloth.

Recently I flew into Qingdao airport (TAO) and I was surprised to see they have a dedicated exit for passengers with carry-on only. You completely skip the big baggage claim hall on the lower floor and just walk through one simple corridor out into arrival hall at level 2.

I'm now curious if you have ever encountered any other airport with such setup?

I am looking to getting a small bag to take with me on weekends trips, I will being staying overseas in central Europe for a long period of time.

I currently have my heart on the Sherpani Sojourn from REI, the bag itself is 18 liters and the size is 16.5x11x5.5. Sherpani Sojourn Tote Pack - Women's | REI Co-op

Is that too big or just right? I am also open to any other suggestion you guys have!

Hi there I’m considering buying the Mogic super bagel for a trip to SEA. Will it charge my thinkpad if I just connect it via the usbc port ? Or will I still have to bring my charging brick(I think it’s 45w) anyways ? I’m fine with it charging slower I just dont want anything to happen to my laptop. really appriciate any help here. thanks guys

I am going on a week long trip in a few months and looking to consolidate two bags into one. I am looking for something that is about 35L to 40L that can function as a carry on on most US flights (22 x 14 x 9). It also need to fit a 16" laptop. So far the ones that caught my eye are these:

• Osprey Farpoint 40L

• TIMBUK2 Impulse Travel Backpack (might be a bit too tall)

I am looking for suggestions. My budget is around $200. Thanks for any help on this.

I have a 3 week EU trip later this year. I’ll be onebagging it but found I do have a little extra room.

I’m pondering getting a point and shoot camera for the trip but haven’t looked at them in years. I know the iPhone 14 cameras are supposed to compare favorably to some p&s models but I don’t know if purchasing a sub $200 model would be worth the cost. I’m generally happy with the results of the iPhone.

What are your first hand experiences with this situation? Any recommendations one way or the other?

I have a pair of Unbound Merino pants and they attract lint and pet hair like nothing I’ve ever seen. The fit, look, and comfort are unmatched, but waking around looking like I have half a cat on my leg is not ideal. Any suggestions for keeping it off?

I know there is always questions about shoes and I've been looking into this topic alot and just wanted opinions as I'm really not sure.

I am looking for a in general travel shoe, something thats breathable and durable enough for south east asia but also comfortable enough for doing 30k+ steps on city breaks around Europe. I am not looking to do many hikes or runs in general, mainly lots of walking and the occasional hike. I have very wide feet so am looking for something with a wider toe box and I narrowed my options down to Hokas and Altras. I also normally take my teva hurricane xlt2

I wondered if anyone had a comment about Hoka Clifton 9 vs Altra olympus 5 or if there is any other recommendations that people think would fit what im looking for

I am looking for a portable charger that also works as a wall charger at the same time. I had a Anker PowerCore III Fusion 5K. And it did the job perfectly but I lost it in school. Can't find it anywhere, and searching on amazon, I can't find any similar products, for some reason, most of the Anker Hybrid portable wall chargers are all not available and sold out.

I was talking to a friend who said he always brings a binder clip so he can bind his wallet to a curtain instead of the safe? Was weird when he first said it but makes sense - He got the idea from Maurice Moves

Hello all,

Looking for recommendations as I am about to take the plunge on traveling through LATAM, and then eventually SEA. Typically I travel with a North Face Base Camp (71L), which has been great. However, I don’t think it will be best for the backpacking/ traveling from hostel to hostel that I plan to do.

I am not nearly as minimalist as some of you, and enjoy having a range of outfits to choose from. Therefore, I need to be on the upper end of the carryon restrictions, but definitely do not want to be checking a bag.

Right now I’m looking at an Osprey 40L, but if anyone has any suggestions I’d love to hear them!

TIA

Hello guys!

I’m used to travelling super light (I use a 30L TNF duffel XS for a one month trip). But I’m moving for 1 year in the US in August (from France) and I’m looking to buy a TNF base camp bag to check-in the plane. The company policy is 23kg. Do you have any recommendation if I should go for the M, L or even XL for this need? What’s the needed volume for a 23kg duffel bag? It will be filled with clothes and shoes mostly

Thanks for the help!

When I travel (usually 2-3 week stretches) I carry a backpack almost every day. I love my Wandrd PRVKE for my daypack but it's not sufficient for the bulk of my clothes. I have a small swiss gear wheeled luggage as a carryon but its a bit too small. I'm not sure the capacity/size. I also have a larger outdoor backpack (osprey aether 70L) but this is too big for carryon and I don't want to check it since some layovers can be too short.

The problem I'm facing is that since I already have a backpack, it's a bit awkward to carry another backpack. I like the onebag backpack options like the Osprey Farpoint 40L or Peak Design 45L. Any thoughts or experience in this case?

has anyone managed to use it as a carry one? The guy at the shop I wanted to buy the osprey 26+6 recommended it and said it he managed to get it onboard with ryanair. it fitted it the lugage thingy at the airport(sorry dont know how it's called(). It feels great and does not look good that big. I think I can get away with it despite it being 60 cm high. thoughts?

I’ve had a Patagonia Refugio 28L for about 7 years and don’t love it. Something about the pocket layout just makes it seem like I can never find anything I’m looking for.

I’m about to go to France and Switzerland and have a gift card for Backcountry so I’m hoping to find something I like better to take on this trip. Would a Fjallraven Raven 28L be any better than my Refugio? Or a Cotopaxi Batac Del Dia 24L? It’s smaller but looks like the pockets may be more usable.

Hey everyone!!

So I’m still on my first one bag journey and I ordered the cheap Amazon basics travel bag off the internet ($50) but I also scoured Facebook marketplace and found someone selling their 40L Farpoint Osprey pack for $80 (and someone else selling a newer/nicer looking 40L Farpoint for $130). I’m 5’9” 23 year old female about 150lbs who would be using this as my first one bag experience. Would be using it mostly for trains, planes, cars, and walking between hostels and transport. Might have my laptop with me might not. Is it a bad call to buy one of these two Farpoints as my first one bag and return the Amazon one? I want something that’ll last and put up with my shit but I keep seeing all over Osprey how it’s like meant to be ergonomic to a man’s body and there’s a specific woman’s version (that isn’t being sold second hand currently on Facebook). Idk let me know what y’all think

Thanks for your time

Edit: removed the metric conversions because I’ve never seen a metric conversion in my life much like y’all have never seen an approximation sign lmaoooo

Update: got the $80 pack down to $65 so I’m gonna send it and see what happens!! Thanks for the help and advice and roasting of my metric conversions the American system really messed us up on that one :((

Girlfriend and I are doing a month-long trip in and around SE Asia next month; Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, the whole nine yards. We'll both have our own suitcases for the bulk of our clothes that we'll keep in our hotels, so we're looking for a good day pack, ideally with a few bells and whistles;

• Waterproof (I sweat a LOT)
• USB charger port
• Laptop sleeve
• wet compartment

I don't have much experience buying backpacks, so I'm not sure what a reasonable price point is for one that will last. I like the looks of the ones that the Instagram algorithm keeps shoving in my face, like the Solgaard Venture Backpack, but the cost is outrageous. Any recommendations are welcome.

I'm struggling to decide on a one bag™ that I can use for the situation I'm normally in. Maybe you guys can help me out. Here's my case:

I live in Europe and I travel every week. Sometimes it's a 2-day trip, some other times it's a 1-week trip. It may be up to 2-weeks, but that's very uncommon. I need to travel for work, so I'm always carrying at least 1 laptop, often 2. They're both 14" macbook pros, so they're not that bulky. But the bag doesn't need to look professional, that's really not a concern. I'll try to be vague so to not doxx myself too much. I tend to travel around Europe between south and north. So climate conditions may swing from southern Italy during summer to scotland during winter. Such wide changes are not super common, but they happen. And I walk a lot with it. Not like 12-hour hiking or anything. But 2-hour walks with the bag are common, and depending on how good the quality is, the experience of carrying it around can be wildly different.

I've been silently lurking for a while on this sub, and I'm trying to apply some of the lessons I've been reading here to pack more lightly and minimal. Smart use of thin, layering clothes, packing cubes to organise my bag and so on. But I'm really a rookie over here just trying to learn. So I'm trying to get something no bigger than 30L.

So far I've been rocking the [Quechua NH 500] for short trips and the Osprey Farpoint 55 for longer ones. They're both quite used up at this point. The Quechua lost all resemblance to form and stability after a couple of months. And it feels way heavier and more uncomfortable to carry than the Osprey. Needless to say, I can appreciate the Osprey is far superior when it comes to build quality (Those straps are incredibly comfortable for long walks). My only complaints with it are that laptop access is atrocious and it is quite bulky. And the zip that's used to attach the smaller bag is completely unusable after a while. Maybe I should have taken better care of it.

So I've been chasing something with the build quality of the Osprey with the handy laptop access something like the Quechua offers. I decided that the GoRuck GR2 was the perfect option. The size, the options, the quality, the style. A perfect match. But it is way too expensive. I just can't bring myself to spending that much money, no matter how cool it looks.

I was hoping to spend between €100 and €150. It'd still hurt, but I can convince myself to do it if the quality deserves it. But I'd rather save up money if the extra spending is not providing that much extra value. I've been considering these options

• TropicFeel Nest 30L
• Quechua NH500 Arpenaz 30L
• Thule Enroute 30L
• Thule AllTrail X 35L
• Quechua Escape 500 Rolltop 32L

I was hoping that some of you might have tried a few of them, or maybe you know more than I do to guide me a little bit on what I should be looking for.

A nice bonus I haven't mentioned is that I'd rather the laptops are well-protected. It's always a source of worry to me, as they are very expensive and I carry them around a lot. So cushy padding, easy access to them and ideally some rain protection would be nice extra bonuses to have.

Thank you so much everyone! Any other advice you have for me to get started on this path will also be greatly appreciated!

Has one bagging changed how you stress out?

I had a stress dream that my dad discovered ants had found their way into my bag, so he cut a bunch of holes in it to let them out. Upcoming travel + anxiety + recently finding ants in my house irl = some weird stress dreams.

I used to just have stress dreams about forgetting my passport or missing my flight. Then I bought a Tom Bihn bag as one of my first big investments into one bagging and started having stress dreams about it getting lost or damaged.

Hello! 👋 Basically my question is can you do one-bag travel using only carry-on backpacks? (The ones you put under your seat in airplane, without additional charge for the ticket) or are you guys paying for the overhead storage for those? Anyone did travels with just that? Whats the essentials list then? Thanks!

Anyone know if the Waterfront umbrella Gokukaru super light or the Light Carbon Tokyo you need to manually fold each tip for storage like some mont-bell umbrellas?

https://waterfront-umbrella.com/en/products/nensfa-3f50-uh

https://waterfront-umbrella.com/en/products/light-carbon-tokyo-jiyugaoka

Thanks

I plan to live and work in Japan over an 18 month period and will be arriving in June - it is my understanding that the June-September period is well known for monsoons, heavy rain and hot weather. To this end, I have been seeking out a rain jacket that will be effective in the summer months but also enable me to hike on wet winter days.

Most advice I have found suggests that an umbrella is the way to go for this kind of climate, however I will not be in urban environments and will likely be working outside for long periods of time, so I feel like an umbrella alone won't be practical. Ideally I'd like a rain jacket that I can use outside while working and hiking in the summer, that will keep me mostly dry without getting too muggy on the inside (I understand that wearing anything waterproof in the heat will always get you sweaty). Obviously keeping it light is nice, but weight isn't my biggest concern a nice rain jacket is a luxury item for me I will be travelling with a hiking backpack that is on the smaller side but would still certainly not fit in with this subreddit.

I've looked at the Patagonia Torrentshell 3L, which looks nice enough, but I fear it will wet through and I've also heard some concerns about its build quality. The OR Helium also looks great. However I have also heard that if you really need breath-ability, compactness and efficacy, splurging on an Arcteryx is the way to go...

If anyone has any suggestions or advice on this matter I'd be keen to hear!

Hi everyone!

I travel a lot for work. My carry on gets quite heavy. I have two rolling carry ons, one under the seat and the other above. Anyway, I've had the same 22" Samsonite for 7 years. The wheels are trash. I usually stack the under the seat carry on when moving through the airport, but the wheels on the bag I have now just won't push with ease and I have to drag it. It's hard on my body.

I am looking at getting a new carry on, one whose wheels will still move like a dream even when I overstuff my bags with crap. I would like to keep it under $300 if possible, although I was looking at the travelpro platinum elite.

I'm a female, not too strong and sometimes need to move quickly between terminals with heavy luggage, plus my work equipment that I sometimes need to check.

Edited to add: I prefer four wheels and looking for luggage that's easy to push along.*

I'd like to share my experiences one and half bagging from Australia to Brazil recently to attend a conference. This was a one week trip, door to door. It's tricky to get from Australia to most places in Brazil, and involved five flights in each direction.

Both my boss and I have had bad experiences with luggage getting lost and delayed on recent trips, so we set ourselves the challenges of travelling carry on only internationally - this was the first time either of us had tried this for work or personal international travel, despite being very experienced travellers.

Luggage

I took a wheeled suitcase and a personal item sized backpack:

• A four wheeled Samsonite suitcase, with 40 l volume and a very handy laptop sleeve on its outer pocket
• An Entity backpack made by the Australian company Crumpler

Packing list

The event I attended required formal business attire and we had only a small amount of spare time, so I mainly packed for work. The main items I took were:

• A suit jacket and pants (made of lightweight wool)
• Three business shirts
• A casual shirt
• Two ties
• Two T-shirts to wear on the plane
• Two pairs of chinos to wear on the plane
• A light jumper to wear on the plane
• Summer pyjamas
• 5 pairs of underpants and socks (all made from merino wool)
• A spare pair of glasses
• A small toiletries bag
• A small medical kit (stuff for stomach bugs, etc)
• A small bag of essential liquids - medicated shampoo, eye drops, etc, all in small bottles. I threw most of these out before heading home to reduce weight and not need to take them through security checks.
• A Kindle
• A laptop
• Chargers and power converters
• A small set of documents needed for my role at the conference
• A pair of formal shoes (packed in the suitcase) and a pair of sneakers (worn on the plane)

What worked

I was surprised at how well this all worked. I had plenty of space between my two bags, with room to spare at both the start and end of the trip. My bags were within LATAM's economy class limits.

I folded my suit using this method, and it arrived in Brazil after two days of travel in perfect condition. Two of the four shirts I took needed a quick iron.

I took a packet of soap leaves I'd bought from an outdoors store, and washed my underpants and socks in the hotel bathroom sink. This worked well, and didn't take much time. The hotel I stayed in had a cheap (almost free after some unexpected discounts!) laundry service, which I used to have the T-shirts and pair of chinos I'd worn on the flight to Brazil washed so they were ready for the return trip.

It was great to be able to zoom through airports, which saved us a useful amount of time when we were very tired. Not needing to worry about our luggage during a long trip to unfamiliar places was also wonderful.

Lessons learned

• I took too many shirts - I could have gotten by with 2 business shirts and a casual shirt
• I probably could have also taken fewer pairs of underpants and socks, but as I had plenty of room in my suitcase I think that this was worth it for peace of mind. I used them to pad my formal shoes, which was helpful as they arrived unscuffed.
• The internet connections I was using were unreliable, so I'm glad I took hard copy backups of the key documents I needed to present at the conference. I kept them to the absolute minimum.
• The Crumpler backpack was the star of the show - it's just perfect for business travel, as it's a good size and has lots of sensible pockets and other features. It can be expanded, but I didn't need to do this. I should have made better use of the backpack, but as it's pretty new I wasn't familiar enough with it.
• It got a bit tedious loading and unloading my suitcase from the overhead bins on planes, especially as I have a form of arthritis and need to be careful with things like this. The laptop's weight was the main problem here, and it would have probably been better to have kept it in the backpack to split the weight more equally between the bags.
• I enjoyed the challenge of stripping my packing list back to the essentials.
• My boss took an even smaller suitcase and a handbag and did perfectly well, so I obviously have room for improvement!

Overall, I was very pleased with this experience, and will try travelling with carry on only again in future international travel.

Anyone know of a really good, compact retractable USB-C cable? USB-A to USB-C preferred, trying to find something I can keep in my daypack for quick top-ups for tech. I can see a lot on Amazon, but not sure about the quality/actual size.

I am hoping that you can help me to choose from several options I am considering from Osprey. I have been on the hunt for a replacement for my North Face Borealis for about a month now. I have considered many brands and narrowed the search down to Osprey because I like the aesthetic and the functionality.

The use case is primarily commuting with a laptop, with occasional travel. So, laptop, sunglasses, power cord, sunglasses, the occasional book. The Borealis was 28 liters, and when I traveled with it, it sometimes got too crammed full of stuff. Just a little bit more space would be super-helpful. On trips I typically carry a laptop, food, drink, clothing, tickets/paper documents. The borealis just got too full.

My criteria are pretty simple: it must be 30 liters or more, it must not have a clamshell opening on the main compartment, and compression straps, if it has them, cannot obstruct the opening of the backpack. For this reason, the popular Nebula and Tropos are out of the running.

The three packs I am considering are the Comet 30, the Proxima, and the Radial Bike Commute.

What I like about the Comet 30 is that it is pretty much designed for commuting. The strap on the front doubles as a handle, it has plenty of space, there is a seal on the laptop compartment so it is almost rain proof. And the waist-strap would help steady heavy loads. It has an Amazon rating of 4.9 out of 5.

What I like about the Proxima is that the compression straps don’t interfere with opening the zippers. The compression straps look super-useful for carrying an oversized thing, like a big jacket. But, it doesn’t have a waist strap. It has an Amazon rating of 4.5 out of 5.

What I like about the Radial is that it is expandable!! This is a huge feature for me, as it would make travel easier. The kickstand would facilitate loading. And the fact that it is suspended off my back means that it would work better for hot days. It has an Amazon rating of 4.7 out of 5.

If any of you have any experience with these backpacks, I would love to hear about it!

I'm traveling to Europe in July for 2 weeks. I'd like to have one backpack. I have traveled with my very old Dakine pack but it doesn't have low back support straps, I remember my back hurt alot with it.

I've been looking at the osprey fairview packs but before I buy one I'd like to hear everyone's opinion and your experiences and packs that worked for you.

Traveling to Japan next month and looking for a solid backpack to take with..! It’s something I plan on wearing while we go out on our day trips everywhere, so I’ll have it on for atleast 10 hours a day roughly. I need something that is beyond comfortable and breathable on the back as I tend to sweat profusely. Dont need anything big, just something large enough to carry some normal essentials, phones, passports, backup phone charger, water bottles, and some small things we may purchase along the way. Anything under $150 is great. Thanks folks!