What’s in the bag

What’s in the Bag?

You might be wondering what’s in the bag when we travel. If you are planning on traveling and will be using public transportation, you need to travel light. You don’t want to be dragging a rolling suitcase, especially on cobblestone streets. I recommend a backpack that is big enough for two people to put all their clothes in and still have a little room for anything you pick up along the way.

We have been using Osprey travel backpacks since 2015 and they have worked great. This bag is not the best choice if you will be hiking long distances, but great for a travel backpack. This backpack comes in three sizes, 30, 46, and 65-liters; we have 4 of the 65-liter backpacks, 3 of the 46-liter, and 1 of the 30-liter packs. The only disadvantage of the 65-liter, it is too large for carry-on.

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I love that it is a clamshell backpack that opens completely like a traditional suitcase. Therefore, you are not digging through the top of the bag to find something that has probably shifted to the bottom. One nice feature is all the straps tuck into the backpack, no damage by luggage handlers at the airport. The Osprey travel backpack we use is available at Osprey, REI, and Amazon. Also, Osprey has a great warranty, they state the following on their site.

“All Mighty Guarantee. Osprey will repair any damage or defect for any reason free of charge – whether it was purchased in 1974 or yesterday. If we are unable to perform a functional repair on your pack, we will happily replace it.”

Organization in the Backpack

Another staple of our trips is packing cubes. I thought they were the craziest waste of money until I bought them. If you like to pack the kitchen sink when you go on vacation, these will help you regain control of your want, need, and must-have items. My clothes are for lack of a better term, in the circus tent realm of sizes. I can pack everything I need for a 4 week (or longer) trip in a small, medium, and large cube, and might not need the small one.

How Much Can You Fit in Packing Cubes?

How do we fit everything in the small cubes? Well, a little trick I have found is to buy new underwear before you leave. You are probably thinking that it is crazy, but you will never be able to roll your underwear as tight as a new pair was rolled at the factory. Also, who wants to travel in old worn-out underwear if you will be walking a lot.

I can fit a pair of jeans, 4-6 shirts, 10 pairs of underwear, a couple of pairs of shorts, and 5 pairs of socks between the large and medium cube. Since I will have a pair of jeans on for the initial flight, that gives me 2 pairs for the trip. You do not need a new pair every day. You should be able to get 5-7 days in before needing to wash anything. My wife can bring a few extra items in the same space. We use the small cube for toiletries in a plastic bag, and also one for any electrical adapters, charging cables, etc. We do bring an extra pair of shoes and that works great as a filler around the cubes in the backpack. All the items above fit in a single 65-liter backpack with room to spare. The backpack typically weighs about 20-25lbs (9-11kg).

Dirty Little Secret

Speaking of dirty clothes, when we bought our packing cubes a box of dryer sheets was included. I found that odd, throw one in your dirty laundry bag and no smells transfer from your dirty to clean clothes. So bring about 10 for the trip to be safe. We usually bring a kitchen size trash bag for every week we will be traveling for dirty laundry. They will rip at some point, so have a couple of spares to be safe. They are also great if you get caught in the rain and don’t want wet clothes soaking everything in the backpack. It is nice if you have a spare backpack or one that can be dedicated to the laundry bag. But not a requirement.

Travel Backpack

Packing Cubes

Clothes to Pack

Clothes to Pack

As a test, I was able to get 10 t-shirts, a bathing suit, and a pair of blue jeans in the large cube. I put 10 pairs of underwear, 5 pairs of socks, and a polo shirt in the medium cube. Above are pictures of the before and after.

Video Review of our Backpack

We are giving away an Osprey Porter 65L backpack on YouTube. Check out the video below to learn how to win. Only entries on YouTube will be counted. Read the description in the video for details and how to enter.

Cameras

Before our South Africa 2019 trip, we did not take laptops, dedicated cameras, etc. All pictures on this site that were taken between the Eurotrip 2015-2016 and our South Africa 2019 trip were all from a phone camera, nothing fancy. I have recently upgraded my video camera to a DJI Pocket 2 and DJI Osmo Action (for wet footage). The DJI Pocket 2 fits in a pocket as the name implies. Therefore, it is much lighter and easier to carry on trips. I still have the camera above for photos, but I have found that I can do most things with my new cameras and phone.

I have used the two new cameras since the Peru 2020 trip and they have worked well, except when there was a user error.  In addition to the cameras above, I added a DJI Mini 2 Drone to get a new perspective on the locations we visit. Check out my latest videos on YouTube to see how well the cameras perform. Unfortunately, the drone is not used as much as I had hoped. Some locations do not allow drones to be brought into the country, or local restrictions prevent flights. Therefore, in the future depending on the destination, it may not be in my travel bag.

On the Move Electronics

In addition to the new cameras, I have added a power bank to recharge devices on the road, a 5-port USB wall charger, and some USB cables for all my devices. Since I am doing more videos for YouTube, I needed a laptop for editing on the road. I picked up an affordable Asus laptop.

Recently, I added a MiFi (mobile wifi) device for connectivity while traveling. We now have 2 in case one is damaged. While in Portugal I purchased a data SIM from MEO and had unlimited 4G connectivity everywhere I went for 1 euro a day. It fits in your pocket and is about the same size as a pack of cards.  Luckily, I did not have to change any settings for the provider in Portugal. I inserted the card and 30 seconds later I had 4G connectivity.

However, you may need to add provider-specific settings such as APN to get it to work. Not all providers know what you need to add for the APN, so it is good to have that info beforehand (google provider’s name and APN). It will only take about 2 minutes to add a new provider.  Wifi-calling worked all over Portugal, Turkey, Georgia, South Africa, and Romania. Please be aware, that some Chinese manufacturers might be banned in parts of the world. Huawei won’t work in the US, Canada, and at least the UK.

This year I added a new laptop/day bag to carry all the cameras, supporting cables, a 17″ travel monitor, and my laptop. The laptop bag is also from Osprey and worked well for our recent 4-month trip to Georgia, Turkey, South Africa, and Romania.  It is my carry-on bag with all my gear.

Streaming Device

After meeting with some full-time YouTubers in Fethiye, we added a streaming device so we didn’t have to log into someone else’s TV for Netflix, Amazon, MAX, etc. We can now do that via our streaming device. If overseas, you will run into location-specific content issues. You may need a VPN to gain access to your home country’s content.  Please follow the content provider’s terms when connecting via VPN as it might not be allowed or is frowned upon. A VPN is good to have as you can protect your connection on public or less-than-secure networks that use portals.

Travel Insurance

Due to COVID-19 and my recently diagnosed medical issues, we have decided it will be worth purchasing travel insurance on future trips. Although we have never done this in the past, it makes sense to protect ourselves against unforeseen changes in plans or illness.

Transportation and Lodging

Since we tend to travel by train in Europe, we use Eurail and DB for train tickets when possible. When researching airfare, we typically use Skyscanner to compare pricing.  As far as lodging, 99% of our stays are with booking.com.  When we are not traveling in Europe or need a car, we use rentalcars.com.