Searching for the perfect travel backpack

Travel and Leisure

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With all of the recent travel chaos and lost luggage stories, many folks are turning to carry on luggage as their next option for overseas travel. As I've written about before, there are numerous choices that will be acceptable for airline overhead bin storage (55 x 40 x 23 cms), but if you're like us, many of the places we will go require traversing many blocks of cobblestone streets, or have numerous stairs or hills that we'd encounter.  So when I started looking for travel backpacks for both of us prior to our 2022 Eastern Europe trip, I did all of the usual Google searches, and came up with far too many options for backpacks. I realised that was due to the fact that everyone has different needs, and you really can't have a one-size fits all travel backpack. Or can you? If you're the kind of person that needs a backpack most of the time, and only a duffel bag occasionally, then you can stop reading now.

Typical use case scenario

A little travel laundry kit

Let's back up to what I think are typical needs, and that will eliminate many outliers in your search. The fact that you're reading this means that you are prepared to pack for only 6 days or so, and do laundry along the way. You've either had trips where you came home with clothes you didn't wear, or saw folks lugging huge cases around the old town area because it was too bumpy to use the wheels. And if you're amongst the majority of folks, you're not planning on going hiking with all of your clothes and gear on your back; you just need a convenient way to get it all from the train station to your hotel or Airbnb. 15 minutes walk? No problem. Anything longer, or if it is pouring rain, you'll catch a taxi or Uber. Once you're at your destination, you've either dropped off your bags, or checked them somewhere, and you're off day-touring with your man bag and her travel purse. If this description sounds like you, here are what I think are the basics for your carry on backpack wish list:

• Maximum dimensions 55 x 40 x 23 cms (21.5" x 15.5" x 9")
• Approx. 40 litres volume; 35 litres for her and 45 litres for him
• Weight of ~1.5 kgs (3.25 lbs.) or less
• Reasonably comfortable, tuck-away backpack straps and hip belt
• Single main storage compartment (vs. divided)
• Slightly structured/padded sides so that the pack retains its shape
• Ideally, a suitcase-style opening vs. clamshell
• Simple exterior with a rectangular-ish design
• Some simple organisation pockets for smaller item storage

What size backpack?

Illustration: Sarah MacReading

Ok, so how much space do you really need? From a practical standpoint, I'd say as much as you can get away with. But while my math on the maximum carry on size should yield 50 litres, you really can't attain that, with the physical constraints of the backpack, and adding things like straps, padding etc. But for most men, your torso is going to be a pretty good fit for a 45 litre backpack, so you might as well take advantage of that. For her, you might have to drop down to a 35 litre bag, not from a weight perspective, but because the bigger backpacks won't fit as well. 80 total litres will be sufficient for the clothing you need for spring through early fall trips; don't forget that you will be wearing your bulky items on the plane.

Why you don't need tons of features

You'll likely have a day bag

Rick Steves talks about bringing just one backpack for travel, but when you see him on his shows, he always has a small backpack on his shoulder, and likely you will too. Whether it's a 15 litre daypack, or a 5 litre crossbody bag, it will hold all of your necessary items that you need easily accessible for the plane, as well as your day touring requirements (I just purchased the Travelon Courier Tour bag pictured here). That's why I'd say that you don't need a ton of organisational capabilities for your primary piece of luggage, as most of the good stuff will be in your day bag. e.g. You don't need a USB charging port, or a water bottle pocket on your carry on backpack; it's going to be in the overhead bin or back at the hotel when you need those things. I actually bought a new, unused eBags Motherlode Jr. bag for her, but after closer inspection, it had too many features that deterred from the basic function of packing clothes. It's a great deal for a smallish 3-4 day bag, or perfect for weekend travel; it sold quickly on FB Marketplace.

I found this NY Times article informative, but didn’t agree with their recommended bag choices. There are tons of bags that fit the size requirements for carry on on Amazon, most are quite inexpensive. But I'd tend to steer clear of the all-in-one types, or ones that tout tons of pockets and features, but cheap out on the backpack straps and hip belt for carrying. You also don't need all sorts of handles on every side; they just get caught on things. Another thing that many of these Amazon bags lack, is any padding or structure to the bag, and so the load tends to sag, even if you've got the compression straps cinched up. Speaking of that, try to avoid compression straps that are on the outside of the main compartment zipper. e.g. I had also purchased an older, used Tatonka Flightcase 1150, but you had to undo/redo the compression straps each time you accessed the main compartment. It was still a very comfortable backpack with sturdy construction; as such, it went quickly on FB Marketplace as well.

Types of opening style

Cotopaxi Allpa 42 clamshell

The other reason I sold the Flightcase, is that it was a clamshell opening; the main compartment had a secondary zipped partition, and a decent amount of the volume was used up by the front compartment that I felt lacked real world usability. Packed to capacity, it would actually be fairly easy to exceed the maximum depth for carry on as well. With bags that have only one large, main compartment with a suitcase-style opening, the space can be filled to the traveller's liking, either using packing cubes or simply folding or rolling your clothes as you best see fit. The new Tatonka Flightcase has solved these concerns, but unfortunately being mostly sold in Europe, there weren't any of these floating around on the used market. Any of the clamshell opening bags require that you have secondary zipped mesh dividers, or else your stuff would spill out when you try to open or close it. As such, highly rated bags like the Cotopaxi Allpa force you to divide your stuff into the two sides of the bag, minimising versatility in my opinion.

Keep it simple

Her RS convertible backpack

It's hard to find a travel backpack these days that doesn't have a dedicated space for a laptop, which I dislike, as I never need to bring one. Yes, I know that when empty, the void literally does not take up space, but there's extra padding there that you don't need. I've only encountered one backpack that does not have a laptop slot, the Rick Steves convertible backpack. Since he designed the bag, it's no surprise that his almost meets all of my criteria for the perfect carry on backpack. I actually found one for free on Facebook, and she used it for our Croatia trip, but found it a little uncomfortable when worn for longer periods. I would have preferred some minimal padding to give the bag some structure, and the shoulder straps/waist belt could be a little more substantial. The price was definitely right, but even at full retail from his site, it's still on my list of decent packs.

Travel backpack unicorn?

The one bag that I found on the web that seemed to meet all of my requirements, was the Tortuga Setout. Again, a very simple design, with all the bells but no whistles; their highly touted, more expensive Outbreaker model has too many organisational features and pockets that you don't need, and it is almost a kilo heavier. With 45 litre and 35 litre models, the Setout would be a perfect his n' hers set. With careful packing, you can easily distribute two travellers' contents across a total of 80 litres. Unfortunately, the Setout was not as popular as their Outbreaker model, and was discontinued in 2021. They have a new model called the Travel Backpack 40L, which looks excellent and is much like the old Setout, but at $349 USD, is very expensive. But if you're scouring FB Marketplace, and a Tortuga Setout comes up, buy it!

Good enough?

Illustration: Sarah MacReading

In the end, I came across a highly-rated backpack on FB Marketplace called the Osprey Porter 46. It ticked off the important boxes on my must-have list, namely single main compartment, bag with structure, and good straps/waist belt. I'd say that the comfort level of this backpack exceeds what we need, as you could probably walk around for hours with this and 8 kgs on your back. However, it is a front-panel loader; I would have preferred a traditional suitcase-style opening, but it has not been problematic. It does have external compression straps, but the design of the compression system gives the bag structure and can really bring down the volume; at 46 litres, this bag is technically a little larger than carry on size, but can be cinched down to meet the size requirements. For you true, one-bag travellers, this is it; with a laptop sleeve and organisation slots, it has almost everything you need. She liked mine so much, that we now have two of these!

Other backpacks to watch for

There are two other bags from Osprey to keep on your list to watch for are the Farpoint 40 and Fairview 40 (his n' hers) backpacks. Very similar design to the Porter 46, with very good backpack capabilities and due to their popularity, they often come up for sale on the used market. The other bag from Osprey that I might have bought if it came up for a decent price in FB Marketplace would be the Osprey Transporter Carry-on 44. With a more rectangular profile, it doesn't give up any space that the Porter or Fairview models do with their rounded corners. The one drawback for me is the main compartment is divided into lower 2/3 and upper 1/3 areas, with zippered partitions; I don't think it would be a deal-breaker for me however, if I found a used one at a decent price.

Close, but not close enough

In the end, what I really wanted was a somewhat rectangular bag, with some structure to it, and backpack straps for the odd time we need to carry our stuff to/from the train station. The discontinued Arc'teryx Covert Carry On, beautiful in its simplicity, was almost the perfect bag, but there are too many bad reviews about how uncomfortable the backpack straps are. But as you can see, there are a ton of options out there, and you don't necessarily need to spend $250+ USD for a travel backpack. But if you come up with a list of bags that meet 80% of what you are looking for, then you know what to watch for on the used market. Both our bags worked well for us on our recent trip to Europe, so we don't need to change anything, but it's interesting to see how these bags are evolving; e.g. they seem to be less and less concerned with hiking-like features, and more along what I outlined in my use-case profile.

Using an eSIM for travelling

Travel and Leisure

Everyone carries a smartphone with them on their trips abroad, and they likely have figured out that you probably shouldn't let your phone "roam" onto the foreign carrier network, right? I wrote about this a long time ago, in a previous post about using your smartphone in Europe. Don't need data or calling services while you're on vacation? Then you can stop reading now. I have long advocated that you can likely get by using free Wi-Fi services at the hotel or around town. But for some, the ability to use data and/or make the occasional call makes their travel lives easier, especially when you are doing your own self-guided trip. And yes, there are those US folks who have a $10/day plan through Verizon or whomever, but we're typically going to Europe for 14-21 days, which would add hundreds of dollars to the mobile bill. For you T-Mobile users, you're lucky to have an unlimited free international roaming option.

Well, for those of you with a relatively new smartphone (maybe you upgraded to take advantage of new camera capabilities?), there is a somewhat recent innovation called eSIM that is about to make things easier but at the same time, very complicated for some people. What is an eSIM? I grabbed this right from Wikipedia:

An eSIM (embedded-SIM) is a form of programmable SIM card that is embedded directly into a device. Instead of an integrated circuit located on a removable universal integrated circuit card (UICC), typically made of PVC, an eSIM consists of software installed onto an eUICC chip permanently attached to a device.

Nearest mobile store not so near?

So what does this mean? Well, most of you know what a SIM card is - the Subscriber Identity Module - it's the little chip that you pop in and out of your phone that tells the mobile phone network who and where you are, and how to ring you when someone calls your number. It's how you can go to Europe, buy a local SIM card from say, Orange, and swap it into your unlocked phone, and bingo, you're using a much lower cost way of using your smartphone in Europe. Of course, you had to find a kiosk at the airport, or wander around town to find the local Vodafone, as most good prepaid options need to be sourced in-country. But there was that time when we were in Dubrovnik, and the nearest mobile store was far enough away from where we were staying that it was not worth bothering. To further compound this, there are those folks that want to use their home mobile number while away, not some randomly assigned, in-country one.

But I digress; we'll get back to that issue in a bit. If you have an iPhone XS or newer (and similar era Samsung or Google ones), chances are that it now supports eSIM. Now, instead of seeking out a SIM card at a local provider, you can buy a prepaid eSIM online, and activate it before you even leave home. At its simplest level, you can now switch from your domestic SIM, and use the services of your eSIM, just as if you had swapped out physical SIMs. I looked up current offers, and Orange has something called a Holiday Zen package, with 8GB of data, unlimited European calls and 200 text messages, all for 20€.

Newer iPhones support SIM & eSIM 

Now here's where things get interesting. Most of the phones that support eSIM also support dual SIM usage; i.e. you can keep your domestic SIM installed, AND use the eSIM simultaneously, switching back and forth as required. Why would you want to do this? I'm going to avoid the whole discussion about having one SIM as your business number and the other as your personal one; that's a domestic use case but here's an Apple support page with more on that. What I'll discuss now is the travel scenario where you would be roaming on your domestic plan in Europe.

Say you need/want data services while you are out and about, so that you can not only take advantage of things like Google, maps, Tripadvisor, etc., but also be able to email or iMessage? Or maybe you need to make a quick call to say, the Airbnb host in Budapest? But sometimes, you need to make or receive a call with someone back home? Well, now you have almost every situation covered with dual SIM capabilities and your newly acquired European eSIM.

By enabling Wi-Fi Calling for your domestic carrier SIM, you will be able to make and receive calls on your domestic number, and even send and receive SMS messages to/from your domestic number over Wi-Fi¹. You probably want to make sure you are on decent Wi-Fi for this, but I was surprised to receive a call one evening on our river cruise over the ship's Wi-Fi. Update: some home carriers also allow for you to route calls and SMS messages over your eSIM's data - i.e. calls to your home number will come in as a VoIP call if you have the setting enabled. In your phone's settings, you can specify which SIM you want to use data with, which in this situation would be your European eSIM number. Now with the European eSIM you will now have the data services you need when you are day touring to navigate, search for restaurants and shops, and if you bought the right pre-paid plan, make calls. More likely, you could probably get away with a data only European eSIM, and these plans are even cheaper than the above-mentioned Orange example. This works particularly well for travellers from the West coast, as anyone you would typically need to talk to back home, isn't available until after ~4 pm, when you are back on your hotel or Airbnb's Wi-Fi.

Yes, I know this can/will get confusing, so if it's too much for you, just pay your $10 per day, and go on about your way. And BTW, I'm no expert on this; yes, I am/was an electrical engineer, and my major was actually telecommunications. So if you need help, try Google. But for those using iPhones, here's a link about getting an eSIM for travelling.

¹ You should always check with your carrier for Wi-Fi calling availability and find out whether additional fees or data usage applies from your data provider. e.g. TELUS does offer Wi-Fi calling, but not outside of Canada.

Portugal with Air Canada Vacations

Travel and Leisure

As we've just pulled the trigger on some flights to France for September this year, I've been thinking a lot about our recent travel experiences, and the trip we took to Portugal came to mind. It was early 2019, and we had another couple who wanted to go to Europe with us, as they had never been, and wanted to try it out. 

Since I am the primary travel arranger in the household, I was a little concerned about being the tour organiser for people that we've never travelled with, and dealing with potential missed expectations. So when I stumbled across a package with Air Canada Vacations, I felt it merited a closer look. It was a 12-day package, including air, hotels, transfers, first class rail, and a number of tours. What I liked about this, was that the itinerary was set up for us, but it still gave a lot of independence; e.g. in Porto there were two included tours; a shuttle tour that took us to the main attractions, and a walking tour of the old town area. Aside from that, we were on our own to explore as much or as little as we wanted.

The price was good, but it wasn't about trying to save money; Portugal is cheap. However, at ~$2,600¹ it was a decent price (on sale at $500 savings per passenger). Flights alone would have been around $1,300 each, so my Scottish rationale is that we're getting 12 days of vacation for $1,300 or just over $100/each per day! Ok, so there are a couple of catches here. First, the flights went through Toronto on the outbound and returned via Montreal, so it wasn't the best air itinerary. This is because the overseas flight is with Air Canada Rouge, AC's discount arm. The actual flights were fine, but as we always do, we upgraded our seats to the Preferred ones with slightly more legroom (not Premium Economy). While we would have liked to used business class, at least on the outbound, trans-Atlantic leg, they don't have it (e.g. lie-flat seats) on AC Rouge. The second thing I encountered is regarding hotel selection; they offer either 3-star or 4-star accommodations, and for the most part, you won't find much difference in Europe between the two. 

The upgrade price was marginal, but the hotels they listed for 4-star (which aren't guaranteed to be the ones that you will stay at) were not as close to the old town areas as I would have liked. So I chose to stay with the 3-star hotels, but it ended up that we did not get placed in the hotels that were in the brochure. In Porto, we were right beside where the 4-star hotel was located in the business area, but only a 4€ Uber trip to the Ribeira district. Our hotel in Lisbon was walkable (near the Marques de Pombal monument, above); the 4-star guests were closer to the Baixa area, but complained that it was very noisy.

Having the transfers both to/from the airports as well as the train stations was a nice to have. One time however, they did not account for how many folks they needed vans for, and we needed to hold our suitcases on our laps for 15 minutes. The included tours were pretty good, except the half day Porto tour; it was more of a shuttle that took us around to a number of locations, and the guide seemed disinterested. As an example, the shuttle took us up to the Porto Cathedral, but there wasn't much of a "walk and talk", and we were left to wander around for 30 mins on our own. 

They did take us to a port lodge however, which was a very neat experience (different tour guide). We'd recommend this to anyone going to Porto, but all of the port lodges are on the other side of the river in a different city called Vila Novo de Gaia. Apparently this is due to the fact that the wines could be stored on the cooler side of the valley, as well as taxation reasons. Some have restaurant facilities, and you can grab lunch over there, where you'll see Porto from a different perspective.

The bus tour in Lisbon was a little bit better, and we visited a number of the key monuments and historical sites there. Most of these locations were a short drive from the old town area, so not walkable and a little too far for the tuk tuks. However, we did get another included tour that did use the them. While we did the Rick Steves free audio tour to explore the Bairo Alto and lower Baixa areas, the tuk tuk was instrumental in getting us up to the hilly areas for more sites and great vistas. Ours was organised by the tour company, but it was with sardinhadobairro.pt and we would recommend them. The three tours complemented each other nicely, and the tuk tuk definitely saved our legs from hiking up the steep slopes.

Breakfast was included with our hotel stays, and for the most part, you could get pretty good food in Portugal. We made one mistake one afternoon in Porto, after walking around in the morning sun we were getting thirsty and hungry, and pulled into the first restaurant we saw; this was a mistake, as our meals were lacklustre. After looking up some recommendations on Tripadvisor, we found a fantastic steakhouse for dinner, which happened to be only a few blocks from our hotel! 

As a general rule-of-thumb, we'd recommend that you wander a few blocks away from the tourist strip to get a meal, as you will find the food better, at a lower price. But if you are in the Ribeira district, and want to sit alongside the river with a view, we ate at Chez Lapin, and it was pretty good. We got lucky with this one, as we were walking the busy promenade, and saw that their patio was quite busy, so we stopped in for dinner. It wasn't until we were on our walking tour two days later that our local guide suggested that this was one of the better places to eat along the Ribeira.

And then while you're in Porto, there's the local special sandwich, if you can call it a sandwich - the Francesinha! It's got three kinds of meat, sandwiched between slices of stale bread, generously topped with cheese and smothered in a spicy gravy. While not for everyone, it was worth trying; it's a huge meal if served with fries, or perhaps two could share it as an afternoon snack. You can get them anywhere, like you would get pizza in Italy.

In Lisbon, we tried the Time Out Market for a lunch break during our Rick Steves audio walking tour. It's a large hall located in the Mercado da Ribeira with many different food items available. It was pretty chaotic, as you'd order your food and then take your pager device and try to find seating. When your pager goes off, you send someone in your party to retrieve your meals, while the others hold down the table space. It was an interesting experience, but not on the must-do list.

The only other memorable place to eat in Lisbon was the Cervejaria Trindade, not especially because of the meal, but the history and... the beer. Considered to be the oldest brewery in Portugal, the restaurant is housed in an old convent. Sure, it's a little bit touristy, but it is certainly a more memorable place to eat than some patio restaurant on Rua Augusta. Portion size was a little small, so make sure you order appetisers first.

Travel in between destinations was included with our package, and it was pretty easy for us, and we like getting around in Europe using rail. We essentially wrapped up the trip with four nights in the Algarve, which I had been to back in the late 90s. We didn't have any included tours there, so we rented a car to do some exploring in the surrounding areas. A lot had changed in 20+ years, and I found that a lot of the quaint, seaside charm had been lost from the larger towns along the coast. A different kind of British Invasion had occurred since, and destinations like Albufeira have become party central for heat-seeking Brits. 

We had to get back to Lisbon for our flight home the next day, and so our last day consisted of some lazy Sunday morning strolling around town before getting our transfer and heading to the train station. Getting into Lisbon around dinner time, we didn't have much time to do anything except get something to eat and pack up for our morning transfer and flight. We would have preferred that there was more time in both Porto and Lisbon, and we could have skipped the Algarve completely. AC Vacations actually has a package for just Porto and Lisbon, but it's too short.

Which brings me to my summary about this semi-structured trip by Air Canada Vacations. Was it good value? Yes. I appreciated that I was not responsible for setting the agenda, and creating an itinerary for the whole group. Would I do it again? Probably not. These days, it seems that most packaged vacations are only 7-12 days long, which we find is not enough time to get immersed in a destination. If there were some flexibility on the flights, so that you could extend on your own somewhere else, it would be much better. But I guess in order to keep costs low and predictable, everything has to remain within the lines. 

¹ all prices discussed are in CDN dollars