Travel Gear

I've been very fortunate in my past travels to know people abroad, allowing me a free place to stay internationally. Through the kindness of others I've often received airport pickups as opposed to trekking through public transportation, which has resulted in little thought to my luggage. For my first trip to Europe I bought the biggest wheeled suitcase possible and filled it to the brim, and have since used that suitcase for the majority of my travels. However, recently I've become a little more adventurous in my travels. I've been staying in many more hostels and instead of having a home base abroad, I instead am always on the move, starting in one place and ending in another. That being said it has become far less sensible to be wheeling around a huge suitcase and it was time to upgrade to something more practical. 

Last year I walked into REI and tried on half of the backpacks in the store and very happily landed on the Osprey Porter 46. It's large enough to carry everything that I need for a 3-4 week trip abroad, and the best part is that it can be broken down into a bag that fits as a carry on, saving me a lot of money in checked baggage fees. The bag has should straps, a hip belt and a strap across your chest, so if you're walking far distances it still fits comfortably. It also has the support straps on the shoulders, taking the weight off of your back which I've never felt the need to use in a city, but have used while backpacking with heavy gear. The back of the bag has small pockets for all straps to tuck into, leaving just the top and side handles, perfect for a carryon bag or to check without worry of the straps getting caught in anything. 

The thing that I like most about this bag is that it loads like a normal suitcase, as opposed to the top loading format of most other backpacks. It makes it much easier to pack and find everything that's inside without having to completely unload it each time I want to get something out. 

So far this bag has been through a five country trip to Europe, a weeklong trip to Iceland, a six week adventure through Asia and an overnight backpacking trip in Pennsylvania. Knowing the quality of Osprey and REI, I know this bag will be with me for years. 

Compression cubes from Eagle Creek

To complete my trips with my trusty backpack I've been using packing cubes, my preferred brand is Eagle Creek and I'm especially a fan of their compression bags. These pack like a normal packing cube but include an extra set of zippers along the side to flatten the bag as much as possible so it fits nicely into the suitcase. The one down side to compression cubes and packing cubes is that they can often be a little pricy, especially for a budget traveler. On my most recent journey I moved to Thailand but stopped off in Europe for a few weeks. I wanted to pack as much as needed in my backpack, so I wouldn't have to touch my other suitcase and I was in desperate need of more packing cubes but was lacking the money to purchase more. That's when I was hit with the awesome idea of using gallon sized ziplock bags! They're definitely not as durable as packing cubes, but besides that they work great for a fraction of the price. There's a chance I might actually like them a little more than packing cubes because they're clear, making it so much easier to see what's inside each bag while keeping everything super organized. 

** Update: After backpacking through Asia throughout the last month I have almost exclusively switched to using gallon sized ziplock bags. Although they're not as durable as packing cubes I love the convenience of seeing what is inside each bag without having to open it and ruin all of my organization.