I’ve met beloved friends of all sorts on my travels, but it wasn’t until I whizzed around the world in 90 days this past summer that I realized I had underestimated my most constant companion: My backpack.
A traveler’s gear is a personal choice based on values of style, comfort, and convenience. And I’ll be real with you: I’d been hurt before. After losing my only suitcase on day 1 of my first semester abroad in London, I’d vowed never to get too attached to luggage (or its contents) again. But when it comes to my Osprey Farpoint 55, I’m smitten.
Here are three features of the bag that made it right for me:
Mix and Match
A feature I found endlessly convenient is the detachable daypack (and the different ways I could wear it). When traveling from point A to point B, I could zip it up to the main pack on my back, or keep an eye on my essentials by wearing the day pack across the front. As the 55-liter pack is too large to store overhead in airplanes, I just checked the main bag and then used the daypack as the perfect carry on.
Storage Space
You can read the full list of what I fit in the bag for a 90-day trip here, but suffice it to say that I didn’t find it difficult to fit in all of the essentials. The Osprey has plenty of pockets–my favorite being the laptop pocket in the daypack. The zippers for most of them are designed to allow a small padlock to be inserted for them as well, so there’s an extra layer of security as you lug all your worldly goods through hostels around the globe.
User Friendly
A big selling point of the Osprey Farpoint is that it’s front-opening instead of top-opening. Instead of having to unpack most of my bag to get to that sweater at the bottom or digging around elbow-deep on a blind excavation, I can simply unzip the top and see all of the contents laid out just as I packed them. Another feature is the strap-hiding panel on the back of the bag. I can wear my backpack to the airport, and as soon as I’m ready to check it, I fold the straps, zip them into the pocket, and convert my backpack into a suitcase. Easy.
Packing for a trip should be exciting, not stressful–you’re going on an adventure, after all! And thanks to its space saving and user-friendly features, I know that my Osprey Farpoint 55 is always up for the task.
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