I have had the opportunity to visit several countries throughout Europe, Africa and Asia. Throughout these multiple trips, I have learned many lessons by making “rookie” mistakes. There is a growing trend for packing light, and I have happily hopped on board. I love traveling with just my backpack. There is something so freeing about walking through an airport with free hands. Also, several of my trips have included multiple flights, budget airlines, trains, and lots of walking. During all these trips, I have traveled with this backpack. It has been around the world.

Y’all, this is my high school backpack! If I told you its age, you could figure out mine! Let’s just say, it’s old! This thing is durable, and it holds so much! Because these bags last, I bought my two oldest kids the same backpack for school. They had the opportunity to travel hands free with me last year. Here is a pic of my oldest son holding both his and his sister’s pack in Budapest.

One of the things I love about this bag is that no matter how many things you place into the main compartment, you can still easily slide a laptop in and out of the second compartment. This is vital for quick access through security.

But the flaw of the L.L.Bean bag is that it does not have a hipbelt. I mentioned that I’ve jumped on the traveling-light bandwagon; however, I have not mastered the art. I can easily have up to 30 pounds in this bag. That really starts to hurt your shoulder when you are walking through places like Red Square in Moscow. So, on my latest trip to Turkey, I decided to find the perfect travel backpack. Our plan included an overnight in Switzerland and then multiple cities and flights in Turkey. I knew I would need to be able to comfortably carry everything in my backpack. This was not easy. I ordered and tried 6 backpacks before I landed on one. I am probably on some kind of REI blacklist.

My priorities were:

Hip belt
Ability to get a laptop in and out easily
It had to hold a lot of stuff. I spent so many hours doing online research for the best travel bag.

Here are the bags I tried:

1 & 2. Osprey Porter 30 and 46

I loved this bag. It was probably my favorite. The laptop sleeve was located next to the back. It was easy to slide in and out, and it held so much stuff, probably too much! I ordered both sizes, and the large one held as much as a big carry-on spinner. The Achilles’ heel of this bag is the hipbelt. It is almost nonexistent. Also, when I loaded it with a lot of weight, it made the material of the backside buckle and poke into my lower back, which was really uncomfortable.

3. Osprey Aura 32

I borrowed this bag from a friend to take on a quick trip to New York City. It is a true hiking day pack. It has a great harness and suspension, just what you would expect from Osprey. I loved, for the price point, that it comes with a water bladder and rain shield. I really liked the idea of this bag having multipurpose use since I love to hike, but it did not hold nearly enough gear. I was disappointed because I really wanted this bag to work.

4. Osprey Fairview/Farpoint 40L

I bought this bag for a trip I was taking to Poland. It has a great hipbelt, laptop compartment, and seemed roomy. As I was packing the night before the flight, I had trouble getting my laptop in and out of the front compartment. Now to the bag’s credit, I was using every inch of the 40L. I took everything out of the bag and easily repacked these items into my old, reliable LL. Bean bag. I decided I would sacrifice my shoulders for this trip, and I shipped this bag back to Amazon.

5. Eagle Creek Global Companion 40 L

I thought this was it. Great hipbelt, laptop compartment located on the back of the pack, and 40 liters of room. Plus, it had a shoe compartment. This was going to be my bag! However, I ended up really disliking the clam shell design. This may be a huge personal preference because, in the reviews I read, this was a selling feature. It seemed like if you didn’t evenly distribute your items, it was difficult to close. Also, if the bag was full, it was hard to use the shoe compartment.

At this point, I was really discouraged. I didn’t like any of these bags! I realized something was going to have to give, but what were my non-negotiables? I decided my top priority was the hipbelt. On a whim, I tried number 6.

6. Osprey Fairview 36 (wheeled suitcase)

I thought the versatility of being able to use this bag as both a backpack and a wheeled suitcase could be genius. What I realized is if you were going to use it primarily as a backpack, the wheels added extra weight and took away from storage. If you were going to use it primarily as a wheeled suitcase, it was really small. There are better wheeled suitcases on the market.

So, what was a girl to do? I spent many hours looking at reviews and blog posts for travel backpacks. I had tried all the top bags! The majority of reviews point to the Osprey Porter and Fairview bags. The Porter with the tiny hip belt was a definite no. I thought about giving the Fairview another chance. The hipbelt is awesome on this bag. But, I didn’t love the placement of the laptop compartment, so I brainstormed alternatives for my laptop. If I didn’t rely on the laptop compartment, I determined this bag would work. I chose this bag and a crossbody purse that had a laptop sleeve. I figured this gave me options for my laptop. I could keep my laptop in my crossbody purse as I went through security for speed and simplicity. Then, I could stow it in the backpack after I was through security and had time to maneuver things around in my backpack. This ended up being perfect. This also allowed me to have access to my laptop on planes instead of having to rummage for it out of the overhead compartments. I also found that if I didn’t overstuff the bag, I could still use the laptop compartment easily. It is not in the best spot for weight distribution, but at least it has one. I also discovered packing cubes, but that’s another post in and of itself!