Picking your Travel Pack

Never leave your hostel without a day pack!  N purchasing fruit from a vendour at a market in Beijing

So many straps and zippers!

Selecting the perfect backpack for your trip can be overwhelming. 

A hiking pack is different from a travel pack, and bigger is almost never better.

Buying bags is my favourite! I even enjoy watching the video tutorials on them. A pack is an investment you are buying something that you do not plan to replace ideally in your lifetime.

In Edmonton (where we live) our best option for gear is Mountain Equipment Coop. They have consistently knowledgeable and helpful staff, in addition to a great selection of travel packs.

Our pack situation:

1.  DEUTER FUTURA 28 DAYPACK (UNISEX) – this is a carry-on size.

What I love about it:

-    mesh backing that keeps it off your back and reduces sweating

-    side opening

-    separate compartment at the bottom

2. They no longer sell the larger of our large pack, we got it in 2011 to got to Africa, but the MEC SUPERCONTINENT 65 TRAVEL PACK is a very similar model. And there is a plus that these come in colours

What I love about it:

-    attachable day pack

-    completely side opening (the whole top flips down – it’s basically like a suitcase with clip straps to hold your clothes down)

-    separate compartment at the bottom

-    adjustable torso length

3. Our third pack was my Dad’s old pack (from the 80s) but it’s great! It is just canvas bag, top opening

What I love about it:

-    it rolls up small so it can be carry on size. If it is full it holds tons, so we have often ended up checking it at the end of the trip.

-    Old school look

4. Also discontinued this one is a top opening thin plastic shell with padded straps. You can still find similar ones. It rolls up very small, so I like to pack it empty and then fill it as we go—who doesn’t like to shop on trips?

MEC day pack rolls of up to 8" around

MEC collapsable day pack

(We don’t take all for packs on every trip. We pick depending on space and time frame. Although we have never been overseas without Dad’s old canvas pack.)

MUST HAVE FEATURES:

Side Opening 

If you’re carrying a pack instead of a suitcase, it is because you are moving a lot and not sleeping in the same hotel every night. Top opening is super annoying for clothes because you have to take everything out to get at them. Side opening means you can see everything you packed.

Separate Sections 

When you are doing a lot of walking in a hot country some stuff needs to be in a whole separate compartment fully sectioned off for odour control. It’s also ideal for shoes.

Day Pack Option 

This is why I love my roll-up pack because it is packed empty it does not need to be unpacked of other things to just throw in the camera and a water bottle. The attachable daypack with the MEC bag is also good if you are bringing more stuff for the day. We like to travel very light for the day if we have a secure place to leave our other stuff though. 

Adjustable Torso length

This is important for bigger packs and shorter people. I’m 5”1 many full-size packs are enormous on me and very uncomfortable to carry. They do have packs made for women but then N is very resistant to carrying it if we need to swap or are only using one bag.

I would always recommend physically going into the store and wearing the pack before buying it. Don’t be tempted by the great prices online you will be wearing this bag for days at a time.