Thinking Travel

2008 is shaping up to be a travel year (yeah!). Which means I’m in the market for new travel gear (yeah!).

I’ve been searching for a carry-on backpack for about a year now. I have a wonderful REI travel pack that I bought back in 2000, but it’s not carry-on sized. For the past few years I’ve gotten away with using my decade old Eagle Creek back-pack, the one I bought during my first year in grad school with my tax refund money. That $50 pack was a fantastic investment because I used it all the way through grad school, and then when Aaron couldn’t find his own grad school pack, he used mine. He’d still be using it now if I hadn’t stolen it back for my work trips last year.

But now I need something that will hold work clothes, travel clothes, a laptop, handouts, and souvenirs. This year’s travel won’t be of the walk-for-20-miles-to-save-tram-fare-so-I-can-buy-bread-and-cheese-for-dinner-
so-I-can-afford-to-travel-for-two-months variety, so I don’t need a heavy-duty pack, like I’ve used for past multi-week/month trips.

The operative word here is carry-on.

In December I finally narrowed it down to two options:

1. Eagle Creek Explorer LT-Women’s Fit

Pros:

• Eagle Creek products are sturdy, practical, and not too ugly.
• I’ve loved every EC product I’ve bought. (And I’ve bought a lot of their products. I’m a traveling EC billboard.)
• This pack is designed for women, which means it might actually be comfortable to wear.
• There’s a detachable daypack that you can carry on the back of the pack or on your chest.

 

Cons:

• Do I really need a detachable daypack?
• It comes with separate a rain shield/straps cover that takes up precious packing space and is easy to lose.
• Save two wimpy side “water bottle pockets” there are no usable outside pockets.
• It’s $250.

2. Rick Steves’ Convertible Carry-on

Pros:

• It’s $99.
• It’s simple and has lots of pockets.
• Rick is an experienced carry-on backpacker and he designed the pack. He mentioned that he fits his laptop into an outer pocket, which is a huge bonus for me, since my backpack also has to serve as my mobile office.
• There’s a hidden security pouch.
• From the pic, there’s no huge Rick Steves logo on the front.
• It only weighs 3lbs.

Cons:

• The straps look wimpy.
• The pack reminds me of the very uncomfortable box of a backpack I bought before I studied abroad in college. I hated that uncomfortable pack before I’d even checked in for my flight.
• It’s one size fits all.
• It’s kinda ugly.

Which did I choose? Well, you’ll have to stay tuned for the next post to find out! (When I’m back from Costa Rica I’ll post a review of the backpack.)

When you travel, are you a suitcaser or backpacker?

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