It’s been five trips, so it’s time to finally talk about the Aer Travel Pack. Bags are already pretty personal, but my time with this backpack has really driven home how silly all these ‘The ULTIMATE Bag for Travel’ posts are.
This bag is almost perfect… for me. It may be terrible for you. It just depends on your priorities, and how you like to travel. Here are the things that I consider when purchasing a bag, more or less in order of importance to me.
Style / Quality
Organization
Comfort / Weight
Price
I would say that it’s like dating. You have all these grand ideas about what you want, but you have to try lots of things (people? bags? hmm that just sounds wrong…) to see what’s really important to you. And you never really find ‘the one.’ But you find ‘good enough’ and you decide if you can live happily with the tradeoffs.
Style/Quality
I can’t say that I drool over the look of the bag. It’s big and black and burly, kind of handsome in a utilitarian way. But at least it’s not hideous like some bags out there *cough cough*. Some people may be drawn to this look. Ryan in fact has bought quite a few bags that fit the ‘black cordura utilitarian urban man bag’ description. So of course he likes Aer a lot. I think he has like 5 of their bags.
All Aer everything
I may be on the fence about the style, but the quality is top-notch, no doubt. This bag is so well thought out for my particular style of travel (one bag/backpack/usually air travel/using under the seat space only). They’ve made this bag tough, with foam padding everywhere, which really gives the bag some structure, along with protecting the goods. OMG no more floppiness!!! And there are compression straps too! And a zipaway water bottle holder! But with all these rugged materials and padding comes weight…
Organization
Time with other travel packs has made me realize that organization is the most important thing to me. I fucking love this bag’s pockets. Man, there are a lot of pockets. There’s so many that at the beginning I forgot where I put stuff, which sounds bad for traveling. But once I had used the bag for a bit and had mentally established a place for every item I normally pack, ooooh it feels so good. Here’s how I use my pockets:
Bottom shoe section -This section is lost on me. I wrap it up and totally ignore it. If I did use it, I would complain about the positioning, because it makes it awkward to use packing cubes. Maybe this would be a good place to put dirty clothes or swimsuits, like a built in laundry bag? Only caveat here is that there are two holes in the bottom to let stinky shoes air out so things can get wet if you put this bag down in a puddle.
Front bottom pocket – My computer charger brick goes here, along with various charging cords. It’s a tight fit.
Front top pocket – This pocket goes all the way down to the front bottom pocket. My clutch size wallet goes here. I also stuff teabags in here.
Top stash pocket- My cell phone and headphones, passport.
Organizer panel – This is the droolworthy section. Keys, magazines, pens, snacks, NintendoDS… This section is large and deep, going all the way to the bottom of the bag. Aer’s official photo of this panel really shows its potential, so here. Look at those pockets.
Computer panel – Just my laptop, occasionally a magazine. I forget if this area is off the ground, but it’s definitely cushy.
Inside – I throw my packing cubes and toiletries here. On the panel zipper you see to the left – I usually throw my Nintendo DS game cartridges or my contacts there. No particular reason why, they just seem to fit well.
All the crap I normally pack.
Comfort/Weight
This is the only bit to give me pause, and it’s a biggie. This bag is heavy at 3.7 pounds just for 33L of space. And it’s bulky AF. I’m five two, and according to Aer’s website photos, this bag is for tall super hip tech bros going about their urban lives. And even on them the bag looks a bit much*.
There are so many ways they could lighten this bag up without sacrificing features. Mostly by removing a lot of the cushion. I don’t need this thing to be bombproof. Maybe the laptop section, but everything else can go. Like the top grab handle is just overengineered. I don’t need all that. The sides of the backpack don’t need foam padding all the way around. The entire organizer panel does not need to be foam padded. My clothes will be fine.
Fitwise, the only thing that I really noticed was that the straps are about a half inch too wide for me. It bugged me at first, then I forgot about it. Oh, also the top adjuster straps are basically useless. They kept coming undone. This bag would be golden if it had some sort of hip belt to distribute the weight, but alas… Let’s just say that you will feel the weight of this bag. It’s not terrible, but it will slow you down.
Too much going on here and these straps should be much more comfortable than they are. Super rigid and anti-boob.
Price
Okay I got this as a birthday present, but I think the price of $220 is totally reasonable for a bag like this. I have no idea whether or not this is an ‘ethically made’ bag like Cotopaxi, but it is a San Francisco company, so yay?
What it’s like to use
The travel pack doesn’t hide away its straps like many travel bags do, so it makes it not ideal for checking. But I don’t check bags anyways.
Most important to me – it fits underneath the airplane seat!! The computer panel and stash pocket are accessible from the top, which is important when stuck on a plane. When I took my Cotopaxi bag, the computer zipper was on the side, and it was a nightmare getting things in and out, which I do like every 20 minutes.
Whenever I got to my destination, I would take my items out of the front organizer panel and pockets, then leave the bag unzipped like it was my own dresser drawer. That was nice.
Verdict
It’s not perfect, but I think I can deal with a little weight for all the organization happiness that this bag gives me. Maybe in the future Aer will make a lighter, possibly smaller version with a hip belt.
*An aside: Aer you need some more women on your site. With these super masculine brands (DSPTCH also comes to mind), not seeing any women modeling the bag is unwelcoming and made me question whether or not the bag would fit my body. I honestly would have bought this bag a long time ago if I had a better idea of fit.Â
Back during my analyst days it was all about the reports. Daily reports, weekly reports, monthly reports, and of course, the big bad quarterly reports. Every April, July, October and January was a manic haze of work, stress and anxiety. I’ve left those days long behind me, but I still think about time in that way. It’s April, so Q1 is very much behind us. I don’t think I proclaimed any personal goals at the start of the year, but here’s what I’ve been up to lately.
Becoming my dentist’s MVP
Back in November I went to Mexico City and popped my crown out while flossing. I hadn’t been to the dentist in a year and a half since I didn’t have dental insurance while I was an apprentice, and then my dentist wasn’t covered by my work insurance, so I dragged my feet on finding a new dentist… With a broke tooth there was no way to procrastinate, and thus began four months of seeing the dentist pretty much every other week… I just checked my calendar, and I went to the dentist NINE times since December. Last week was my final dental appointment until my next cleaning, and it feels like such a relief. Now that I’m all done, I’m seriously babying my mouth now. I’ve even stepped up and bought the trendy coconut floss my dentist recommended. It smells nice and supposedly coconut oil is antibacterial, but I haven’t noticed much of a difference. I mean, it’s floss.
Jill Visit
I visited Jill in Atlanta in January. I had to work, so it was mostly a lot of just hanging out with nothing special in mind, but I still got to see a little bit of the city, and eat a little BBQ. I became obsessed with how incredibly low food costs were, and took to regularly texting photos of our restaurant bills to Ryan.
What else… not to knock Atlanta’s interest in Paul Thomas Anderson films, but there was NO ONE at all in the theater for a late screening of Phantom Thread. It was a treat being able to have an entire theater to ourselves. I found that when I watched the movie again at home in San Francisco, the audience laughed at different parts of the film. It gave me a different understanding of how you might interpret the movie. Some films are best seen with an audience, I suppose. Films like this include: action movies (Black Panther!), Tyler Perry and Quentin Tarantino movies, horror movies. Films best watched alone: documentaries, dramas, John La Carre movies, romantic comedies.
MoviePass
Speaking of movies, after many weeks and ZenDesk complaints, I finally got my MoviePass. Friends, it is everything they say it is. There are a few catches of course, but with San Francisco prices it’s totally worth it to sign up (9.95/month for a subscription that gives you one movie per day, while SF movie tickets run 10 – 16 dollars per movie).
Mom Visit (aka my mom runs away from her family too)
My mom visited for Chinese New Year in February. I had originally wanted to head down to Los Angeles to see the extended family, but she stressed that it would be a total mess. Instead, she wanted to head up to SF. I think she was probably right. Her visit was nice and laid back. We’ve been seeing each other a bit more often lately, and surprisingly, I think that has helped us to have more fun, since there isn’t as much pressure to cover all the big life questions. Of course this does mean that I debate the cost/benefits of purchasing a house every single time, but that’s unavoidable.Â
Audiobooks
In January I got super obsessed with Call Me By Your Name. After watching the movie I had to read the book. I saw that the audiobook was narrated by Armie Hammer, so for about the fifth time, I started up an Audible subscription. Since then I’ve been listening to a ton more audiobooks. Most are from the library and through the excellent Libby app, but Audible’s frequent and generous sales have convinced me to stay a member. Favorites lately include: The Last Black Unicorn, World War Z, Norse Mythology, Call the Midwife, and Ubik. I’ve actually been updating my books page!
March no spend
February was kind of spendy, so I did a ‘no spend’ month for things that weren’t food or basics. Normally an ‘experiment’ like this would warrant its own blog post or two, but honestly I made it through without much hand-wringing. I replaced my headphones when they broke, that’s about it. Oh, and CocoFloss. LOL. It’s now the middle of April and I still haven’t bought any non-staples. I might go on through the end of the month. Now if I had to give up eating out, that would be a real challenge. 🙂
Mission Techies
A friend of mine from school got a job as the program director for Mission Techies, a training program that helps minorities transition into a tech career. He needed some help planning content, so he asked if I could help out.
The thing that made the most sense from a time and resources standpoint was planning a site visit. I got the go-ahead from folks at work, and then all of a sudden I was planning a tour and a Q&A career panel for the students. If you know me, you might know that being the center of attention, public speaking, and event planning are all my least favorite things to do. I really wanted to help out though, so I pulled it together, and thankfully the event was a success! I’m planning to write about it more on my coding blog, but I’ve been lazy…
Let’s see… what else work-wise… I went to the ForwardJS JavaScript conference for the second time. I gave a talk about it at work, which was stressful, but went well. I’ve been debating this with friends – so public speaking is uncomfortable for me. Because I’m stressed out about it, I put in a ton of effort, rehearse, rewrite, etc. Then when I finally give the talk, it goes fine, maybe even great. I know they say you need to practice a lot to get good at things, but what if being stressed the fuck out is a key ingredient I need in order to perform decently? How terrible is that? Maybe next time I’ll try a little more improvisation.
A Little More Social Time
Last year I felt like I fell out of touch with a lot of friends. I was just busy with work. I made a bit of an effort in January to see friends even when it wasn’t convenient (because really, going to Oakland is never convenient). From there, things have kept rolling steadily, and I’ve had a lot of fun weekends. Concerts, big steak dinners, Russian festivals, dance shows, clubs, bars. It feels good to be out and about again.
Travel was one of my goals for 2017, and near the middle of the year I was disappointed with myself for not making more happen. I’d spent two weekends away – a conference in New York, and a wedding in New Jersey. Since I went full-time at my job in April, by the middle of the year I still had barely any vacation time saved up. I decided to make the most of my company’s liberal work from home policy, and stretch some long holiday weekends. Where that wouldn’t work, I bit the bullet and took unpaid days off.
I ended up packing in the trips in the latter half of the year: Morocco in September, New Orleans for a conference in November, Mexico City for Thanksgiving, and Palm Springs for Christmas. I never posted about these trips because I’ve been so busy, and then it felt like the time has passed. But I’ve been daydreaming about 2018 travel, and I thought it would be fun to reminisce, and to think about where else to go based on how I felt about these trips.
Google Slides apparently lets you import your Google photo albums, so I thought I would try that this time instead of individually uploading photos (part of the reason I put off blogging about these trips at all). Seems a shame there isn’t an easy way to make an embeddable slideshow with comments via Google Photos, but I had fun putting random text boxes as commentary all over my photos. There’s a ton of photos, but the sets get smaller as you scroll down.
September: Catching up with an old friend in Morocco
My friend Jill was spending part of her summer in Morocco in order to ride horses on the beach, and this seemed like a perfect chance to visit, especially since I’d missed visiting during the three years that she lived in the country. The trip itself was cathartic, something long overdue. But to start with, things felt difficult. I was anxious about offending people, wearing the wrong thing, saying the wrong thing. And you know how in Thailand/Southeast Asia there is that saying: Same same, but different? Yeah, Morocco was just different.
Marrakech was hot as hell and stressful, but I didn’t find the stress invigorating, like in Bangkok or Phnom Penh. After checking out some of the sights of Marrakech, Ryan and I quickly moved on to Essaouria, a beach town where Jill had rented an apartment for a month. Once we got there, things became much easier. No heat, a nice breeze, plentiful seafood, oh and Jill handled everrrrrything – thanks Jill! Basically we ate a lot of tajine, drank a lot of NesCafe, checked out the sights, went to a winery, and just chilled out. It was nice.
Highlights:
Hearing the call to prayer several times throughout the day, including the wee hours. It was very moving.
We took a ‘grand taxi’ to the winery. It’s basically a large car going in a certain direction, and you can buy a seat. When all the seats are full, the car takes off. It was a new mode of transportation to me, and I definitely would not have coordinated it myself if Jill weren’t there to make it happen. On the way back, we caught the same taxi. The driver recognized us, I guess we stuck out as three foreigners walking down a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.
Meeting all the wonderful cats of Morocco. They were everywhere. The kitties by the sea were much more well-fed compared to the scrappy city cats.
Watching Girls Trip on a laptop, just like in college
Came in way way under budget, less than half of what I’d budgeted for.
Riding camels on the beach. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I really fell in love with camels. Rudyard Kipling got it wrong, they’re sweet and hardworking animals.
Lowlights:
Being taken to a carpet shop on our city ‘tour’ and getting the super hard sell. We didn’t want to buy a carpet! Really, how often does that work?
Being hungover
The actual travel. Getting there takes forever!
November: RubyConf in New Orleans
I enjoyed going to the annual Ruby Conference in Cincinnati in 2016, so when I learned that the next event was in New Orleans, how could I say no? And I don’t even code in Ruby anymore, that’s how good it is. My mom had just finished up a job, so the timing worked out and she joined me for my trip. My conference was three long days, but we managed to fit a lot in during off hours.
Highlights:
Catching a couple of jazz shows casually
Visiting the oldest pharmacy in the US, now sponsored as a museum by Walgreens
Taking a plantation tour and being incredibly satisfied that our tour guide was a black man dressed in killer period appropriate costume.
Introducing my mom to grilled oysters
Going back several nights later to eat more grilled oysters 🙂
On the final day we lucked out with a private cemetery tour. I saw Nicolas Cage’s future tomb, y’all. There are lipstick kisses all over it, and I think they’re probably Nicolas Cage kisses.
Accidentally sitting at the VIP lunch table and meeting some famous Ruby folks. All incredibly friendly, of course.
Drinking hurricanes with my mom at Pat O’Briens
Lowlights:
Literally walking face first into a metal pole and bruising my face.
Being hungover from hurricanes
Thanksgiving: Birthday with Bae in Mexico City
When I think about it now, celebrating my birthday in Mexico City was a series of unfortunate events. I broke a tooth. Ryan got food poisoning and was in bed for a day and a half. The internet at our AirBNB died. We waited 45 minutes in line to pick up our lucha libre tickets only to learn that we were in the wrong line and needed to wait another 45 minutes in another line. Our airline pilots went on strike the day of our flight home. And yet… I was so determined to have a great birthday that I think I willed myself into letting it all slide. We made it through each shitty roadblock and I’m just left with really happy memories of Mexico City. It’s a great place. Putting it up there with Barcelona on my list of personal happy places.
Highlights:
Coming back to the apartment everyday and being greeted by the kitty of the house. She would follow us upstairs, run ahead and rush into our apartment, and then immediately start meowing for food. On the final day she lucked out and got some tostadas from the super fancy ContraMar. On that day we also learned that that our cat friend had a sister!
My first Lucha Libre match included a Trump worshipping badguy. I learned that Mexican grandmothers can be rather salty when it comes to their wrestling.
Cramming into the local bus back home from the pyramids, and getting to stand at the very front of the bus, right behind the window. It felt like we were flying down the freeway, especially since our young and attractive bus driver was blasting EDM. He had good taste, BTW.
Rushing to the famous 24 hr churro place at 6am before heading to the airport, only to find the one employee hiding in the back of the kitchen, sleeping.
Lowlights:
Uh, basically the stuff that I mentioned above. Ryan was really sick, and I found myself Google translating ‘stomach flu’ before I nervously headed out in search of Pepto. Also, our apartment was in a great location, but right next to a crosswalk, so we slowly went insane from the crosswalk sounds.
Palm Springs: A Different Christmas
I didn’t want to stay in town for Christmas. Palm Springs is a chill place close enough to make going out of town not a huge deal, and with Ryan’s points, we got our hotel for free. PS is about an hour away from Los Angeles, so I invited my mom to come for the holiday. She didn’t know much about the town, but I think we showed her a good time 🙂
Highlights:
Last time we came to Palm Spring the aerial tramway was closed. Glad we tried again. It’s an amazing view and really a technically impressive feat!
Went to see The Darkest Hour, but stumbled upon a poppin’ Auntie Mame dress up boozy movie night
Lowlights:
I got food poisoning. It’s not a trip unless someone gets food poisoning. This time Ryan bought the Pepto.
Some Places I’d like to go in 2018:
I’d like to do more long weekend trips, but most of the places I had in mind are pretty far, and it would probably be hard to work from home, since the time difference is drastic… Hawaii, Cuba, South Africa, Ireland, Portugal, Hong Kong, Berlin, Senegal…
Next up: Atlanta. Right.. now. Seriously, going to the airport… :)Â Going to spend a weekend visiting Jill’s new city.
I’ve read far too many superlative sponsored blogger/travel mag posts for the Cotopaxi Allpa 35L travel backpack & the CabinZero ultra light cabin bag. I thought I’d add my own ‘non-travel blogger’ commentary since I don’t quite agree with review titles such as  ‘Is the Allpa the ultimate backpack for adventuring travelers?’ and  ‘A Carry on traveller’s dream bag by CabinZero.’ Once I got started, I realized that I have bought a LOT of bags since May. Might as well review them all!
I’ll be covering the following bags, with the most time spent on Cotopaxi & CabinZero, and maybe a few paragraphs each on the others:
Cotopaxi Allpa 35L Travel Backpack
Cotopaxi Batac 16L Packable Daypack
OnePlus Travel Backpack
LeSportsac Large Weekender Classic
Marc Jacobs Nomad Crossbody
Banana Republic Ashbury Crossbody
CabinZero Classic 36L Ultra Light Cabin Bag
Friends of mine know that I have a weak spot for travel. And bags. So.. travel bags… well I’m helpless. I lust after backpacks, duffels and suitcases of all types. It doesn’t matter how impractical or expensive they may be, I get a little dreamy imagining using the bag on my meager 15 days of PTO/year.
In April I bought Ryan a Tortuga Air travel backpack for his birthday (by request). It’s a discontinued model from a few years back, but it was available on Amazon at the time.
I’m wary of crowdfunding campaigns, mostly because it takes forever to get your stuff. The Allpa didn’t seem totally right for me (looked too unstructured, needed more pockets), but I went ahead and bought it anyways since I was curious. Well, I’ve taken it on two trips now (New Jersey in July, and I just got back from Morocco), so I think I’ve used it enough to give a thoughtful opinion on the pack.
Pros
There are actually a lot of pros. When I received the bag, I was impressed with how well made and sturdy the bag was. Usually my first test of a backpack is to check the zippers. The zippers were huge, which was a plus for me.
Other nice features included 4 padded handles on each side of the bag, for easy carrying. The diagonal webbing on each of the 4 corners of the front of the bag is strong enough to use to pull/carry the bag (um not that it’s supposed to be used that way… just sayin’). Most of the zippers are lockable, and they also have a theft proof webbing sewn across the openings, which is super simple in design, but will slow down any thieves on public transport.
There was a separate zippered compartment for laptops & iPads, which is kind of a must have for quick travel through airport security. There was also another zipper on the other side of the pack lengthwise, which allows you to quickly grab things from inside the main compartment without unzipping the whole clamshell.
Laptop compartment. The yellow pocket with the velcro strap is for iPads/Kindles
Not a super light bag, but a reasonable weight 3.7 lbs
Design looks less ‘backpacker-y’
Clamshell opening, like a suitcase (not necessarily a pro for me, but something a lot of people look for in a travel backpack)
Perfect size for airline carry on (even fits under the Vueling Airlines seats) – 20″ x 12″ x 8″, or 51 x 30 x 20 cm (well within the usual max carry on limit of 55 x 40 x 20)
Includes a rain cover
You can hide the straps and hip belt, making it easier to stuff into overhead bins or tight spaces.
For the quality of the bag, the price is right. Cotopaxi also recently sent me a recall notice for my bag, claiming that the TPU coating was incorrect. I’m about to send it back for a replacement, which is awesome. They seem like a really legit company.
Fits a ton!
Everything I packed in my Allpa for Morocco, including the green CabinZero bag, filled out about 80% of the space
On to the CONS
To be fair, most of my cons I saw coming.
Problem #1: STRUCTURE
Cotopaxi said that they created their pack to be sleek on the outside with no protruding straps or other features so that the bag wouldn’t get snagged on anything. The bag is also fairly formless so that you can stuff it to the max, and then cram the bag into all sorts of spaces. This is good for flexibility I guess, but it naturally leads to my biggest complaint: with no compression straps, this bag is super floppy. It needs more structure.
The easy access front top pocket
The interior of the bottom half of the clamshell includes straps to tie down your items, but it’s really the front of the pack that is the problem. The easily accessible pocket is on the top of the front clamshell (where you might keep your keys, wallet, passport, drink, etc), and it goes halfway down the front. It’s quite large – my brown leather bag pictured above fully packed could fit in this area. Unfortunately if you put a lot of stuff in the top pocket, you will need to pack things in the bottom of the front clamshell, otherwise, the top sags in and the weight distribution is terrible and uncomfortable. The bag really encourages you to pack it to the max, which is annoying. For most trips, I just don’t pack enough to warrant using this bag.
Another small con – the zippers are large and chunky (yay), but there is a noticeable space between them (boo). Not a huge problem if you use your raincover when it rains, but if you don’t have it on you, your bag could let water in.
From the side you can sort of see how the straps make the back panel of the bag lumpy. Also I threaded a compression strap through the back panel to tighten things up a little.
One bigger annoyance was that hiding the shoulder and hip straps was not totally smooth. It lead to a lumpy back panel.
Personal wish – I wish there were a built in water bottle holder! Cotopaxi sells an accessories kit that includes a water bottle holder that attaches to the outside of the bag, but I don’t really like the look of it. It’s been nearly 4 or 5 months since I bought the bag, I am still waiting for my accessories kit from Indiegogo, so no comment on how well the attachment actually works.
Big downside of the suitcase/clamshell design – It can be tricky to access items on the go. You really have to be strategic about where you place things, and make sure that you zip the internal zippers so that you can reach them when you have your hand stuffed in the middle of the two halves. In general this suitcase like design worked ok for me, but there were several times that I had to place my bag down on the floor and open the entire clamshell to find things/put things back. Awkward.
The biggest con of this bag for me is personal fit- this bag is not for short or skinny people. When I tried to use the hip belt, the back of the bag sagged and rode on my butt, which was incredibly uncomfortable. When I pulled the shoulder straps as tight as possible, I couldn’t use the hip belt. To keep them out of the way, I tried hiding them in the back panel, but it was lumpy and uncomfortable. The torso was just too long for me (I’m Five two with a 16″ torso).
I also had my friend Jill try the bag, and she was too skinny to use the hip belt on the very tightest setting! It seems to work okay for Ryan, which is no surprise, it was probably built for someone of a more average height/size.
Oh, another thing about the hip belt. The zipper (the blue line in the pic below) … I’m not sure what that pocket was for, since the opening was so tight. Maybe you could slip a key in there? A card? Certainly not a passport or a keychain, or even a chapstick. Seems like a waste. Making this pocket more 3 dimensional like the Tortuga Outbreaker would have been a more functional choice.
The tightest setting and no buenoThe right sized person for this bag apparently
After about two weeks of travel with this bag, I can say that if you’re smart about your packing, you can get around the problems I mentioned above. Don’t put super heavy stuff on the top front of the clamshell and don’t put lighter things on the bottom of the front clamshell. I bought a luggage strap off of Amazon and used it to compress the empty space. It’s not perfect, but it helps a bit. Know where you put your items so you don’t look like an idiot rummaging through your splayed open bag on the side of the street (ahem..).
My review sounds slightly negative, but I mean you can’t compromise on fit. I may sell this bag, we’ll see. In general this bag has way more pros than cons, and carries a ton of stuff gracefully.
Verdict: Buy if you’re not skinny or short
Cotopaxi Batac 16L
The Allpa was sold to me in a bundle with the Batac 16L, which they were marketing as their ‘stowable daypack.’ You can’t choose the color of your pack, the line is ‘del dia’, which means that the Cotopaxi sewers in the Phillipines have creative control. They use whatever fabric they like to make you a bright and crazy looking bag. I had been interested in getting an REI Flash pack, and this bag design seemed quite similar.
Quick take: I LOVE THIS PACK. It was totally unexpected. It is an obnoxiously ugly bag and doesn’t have as many pockets as I’d like, but geez I love it. It has double water bottle holders! The straps are super comfortable, despite being so thin. The ripstop fabric makes the bag light as air yet sturdy.  This bag can actually handle my beast of a work laptop, but it’s really  more suited for the beach and light hikes. It’s quite water resistant, handling a downpour in New Jersey easily. If I didn’t want to use a crossbody bag in Morocco, I would have taken this bag. The only con I can say about this bag is that the inside phone pocket is sewn in sideways, which doesn’t work for me. My damn phone just falls out.
Verdict: Buy
ONEPLUS TRAVEL BACKPACK
After our trip to NJ in July, Ryan read a review which is basically a love letter to the new OnePlus travel backpack. He ended up purchasing the bag in the grey, orange, and blue colorway. Once it arrived, he was immediately disappointed in the quality and comfort of the bag, so he decided not to use it all and gave it to me.
Let’s be clear, this bag is not the backpack from the heavens, as described by The Verge. However, it is a nice little work backpack. I’ve been using it since July, and it has so many pockets! I think they said 12 pockets. Twelve!!!
Cons: The bag material varies by color, and the grey’s fabric doesn’t feel great. The rectangular body of the bag is very stiff. There is lots of foam padding, which gives the bag a boxy shape that isn’t really compressible. The shoulder straps are not very comfortable either. Also the zippers have a hard time going around the corners, they get stuck quite often. The water bottle pockets on both sides lie flat, so when you put a bottle in, it eats into the interior space of the bag.
Basically this bag is like a more rigid version of the Timbuk2 Parkside backpack, which is one of my all time favorite work backpacks (also good for travel, as I took it to Myanmar). I’d suggest that you get that bag instead. It’s cheaper, lighter, and a more flexible bag.
Verdict: Skip it
LeSportsac Large Weekender
I was looking for a lighter replacement for my Kate Spade Saturday Weekender bag, which has gotten a bit gunky from ~5+ years of on and off use. LeSportsac duffels are pretty popular, and I used to give women carrying these side-eye because they’re pricey for what they are. But my aunts have given me LeSportsac cosmetic cases that are now going on 15+ years strong, so I took a chance and bought a used red and tan large classic weekender off of the resale site Poshmark for about 30 bucks.
This bag is so simple, but so good. It’s LIGHT, and has 4 pockets around the outside. There is no inside pocket on this version, but there is one on the more expensive ‘CR weekender’ model. The shoulder strap is actually very comfortable. Overall the bag is moderately waterproof.
Another major plus of buying one of these bags is the cute prints. LeSportsac actually has an archive of their prints, it goes pretty far back! The bag that I got is from 2005, and it includes a little key that locks the zippers shut. I don’t think that’s a feature of the modern bags. Recommended prints: Rifle Paper Company’s Rosa print & any of the Nintendo bags.
The only con that I can think of is that this bag is very expensive for what amounts to a nylon bag, but hey just buy one on eBay, and problem solved.
Verdict: The hype is real. Buy one used, they last forever.
Marc Jacobs Nomad crossbody
I considered using this bag as a travel day bag, but really I bought it for regular Fall use. This bag is from a few seasons ago, and I was lucky to score a brand new one off of the resale site Tradesy for less than half the original price. Buying purses secondhand is the best, since handbag lovers baby their bags, and are fickle, meaning they tend to sell off their bags when they are bored with them.
The bag comes in two sizes, I chose the larger. It holds more than I thought – a wallet, snacks, a can of coconut water, a book, phone, iPad, light cardigan, etc. If you have a DSLR, no it’s not going to hold that, but in general, perfect for a day of sightseeing. While this bag is a crossbody, I think it also would work pretty well in a variety of situations. It’s not too casual.
Cons: This bag is heavy. It could be too much for all day. Not sure if it’s my bag, but the hardware sometimes squeaks, which is grating. The saddle bag construction means you have to pull open the entire front flap to get at your stuff. Also, the zippered front flap itself is a pocket, but mostly useless and awkward. It’s a good hiding spot for flatter items.
Verdict: Cute, but not the best for travel
Banana Republic Ashbury convertible crossbody
When I originally bought this bag ten years ago, the salesperson mentioned that the collection’s designer came from Coach. Can you see the influence? Maybe in the hardware and thick tanned leather, but I dunno.
I ended up loving this bag to death. I then sent it off to a pleasant afterlife with Jill. While looking at travel bags, I remembered this bag, and decided that I needed it in my life again. So after a quick search of eBay, it was mine for $40. Needless to say, when Jill saw me again in Morocco with this bag in tow, she was confused, but delighted. She knew it was a great bag too.
Great for days out walking around town, also an ideal in flight bag. 2 outside pockets, 3 inside, along with a key fob. Fits ipad/notebook/wallet/phones/etc, but most importantly, sangria!
Pros:
Converts between shoulder bag & crossbody
Beautiful thick leather that is also quite tough, preventing a slash and run theft
Outside pockets are big enough for the plus size iPhone, S’well water bottles & sangria!
Interior holds a lot, has 3 pockets and a key holder
Cons:
Only real con… with all the leather, this bag is heavy. With the thicker shoulder strap, it’s more manageable than the Marc Jacobs bag.
Verdict: Buy it if you can find it 😀
CabinZero Classic 36L Ultra Light Cabin Bag
Girl that bag is too big for you.Love the color and the flag patches, wish they made it in 36L
Okay, last but not least – I stumbled across this bag when doing some online carry on backpack “research”. Basically I was shopping. Because I love bags.
It didn’t take much googling before I ran into CabinZero. CabinZero has mounted a fierce travel blogger campaign over the past few years, so there’s lots of positive reviews out there.
I really love the travel philosophy behind this brand. I mean, I don’t think I’ve checked a bag in 10 years, and backpack all the way! Looks wise, I thought the bags were kind of cute in a basic way.
They happened to sell them in the Barcelona airport (where I had a layover), so I bought one on a whim. I folded it up, and it easily fit in one of my Allpa compartments.
CabinZero’s flagship bag is the 44L, but when I tried it on, it looked utterly ridiculous on me. Since I already have a hard time filling my 35L Allpa I was torn between the 28L & the 36L, but they had the 36 in green, so I went with that. It looks smaller than the Allpa, but surprise surprise, it fit all my stuff! I think we can all agree however that the packing shown below is something of a hot mess.
Fully packed from the side
Pros
The bag will fit strict international airline carry on standards. The 36L even fits Spirit Airline’s personal item dimensions.
They are simple and light bags. This one was about a pound and a half? The lightness is super helpful for international flights with low carry on weight limits of 5-10kg (11-22 lb).
The inside is fully lined in a contrasting color, a nice touch.
The zippers are also super sturdy and feel smooth to zip.
You can use the smaller versions as daypacks at your destination. You won’t feel like you stick out so much compared to wearing the Allpa or a hiking style backpack.
The bag has a panel opening, meaning quick and easy access.
They include a special international tracking tag from a company called Okoban so that you can find your bag if it is lost. I’m including this as a Pro, but to be honest, it relies on the person who finds the bag to have internet access, be able to read English, and to WANT to return the bag to you, so uh… it’s kind of worthless, really. I don’t think you would get your bag back any easier than including your email on a luggage tag, or writing your info on the side of the bag in Sharpie.
Cons
I still want a water bottle holder…
A waist & sternum strap would be nice. These are included on the military version, which only comes in the 44L size.
Back padding could be more robust (it is on the military version…)
The bag includes 2 handles, one on the top and one on the left side. The handles have a cushioned strap which is nice, but it seems a little extra for the day to day. I think the Allpa does carry handles way better, and there’s 4!
The air mesh straps remind me of my Topo Rover backpack. They are not smooth against the skin, and make slightly crunchy sounds when you press down on them. These straps are comfortable during regular wear, but the annoying thing is that when I wear straps like these with a tank top, the straps are scratchy, dig into my shoulders, and my skin can bruise – I get ugly red bruises all over my chest and shoulders. That is a major con for me, but your mileage may vary. Just don’t wear tank tops.
Like the Allpa, this bag is meant for maximum space and flexibility, meaning that this bag is mostly a large floppy rectangle. The bag has compression straps, but if you look at photos of this bag online in use, the bag is either completely stuffed square, or it’s flop city. Why the hell do I keep buying these floppy ass bags? When will I learn? Where is my dream bag?
There are 3 pockets, one on the front and 2 on the back of the front panel. Meh, not enough pockets.
The laptop section is not padded, which keeps things light, but offers minimal protection. It’s also hell to get your laptop out at security.
The inside is one big cavern. You’re going to need to use packing cubes.
This bag’s shape and general features reminds me of my Kelty Captain backpack, which is super durable, has more pockets and organization, much comfier straps, has chest/waist straps, and also is ‘cabin-sized’ (but unfortunately much smaller). It’s such a great backpack. I have packed it as my ‘go bag’ in case of earthquake, but normally I use it once a week for grocery shopping.
I was not totally in love with the CabinZero when I bought it, nor when I inspected it further after getting home from the airport. I would have returned it under normal circumstances, but I couldn’t since I bought it in Barcelona, and the salesclerk ripped the tags off – rude!
I’ve gotten the chance to use this bag on a couple of dogsitting trips (2-5 days) & as a work backpack. The bag has grown on me a little. The comfort is better than I’d predicted based on the straps, and the compression straps really make it doable as a daypack. I can see this as being a good no brainer bag for people who pack too much. I will probably use this bag as a weekend trip bag, and use the Allpa for trips where I’m packing more or heavier.
Verdict: Buy it if floppy bags don’t piss you off.
Anyways, I hope this post has been helpful. I’m still on the hunt for the ‘perfect travel backpack.’ Looking at the Minaal Carry On 2.0 (sleek looking and so many pockets, but too pricy and travel specific), Osprey Fairview (fair price, they have XS packs, rave reviews from everyone, but kind of ugly, and the laptop section is the front of the bag and not flush against the back, which is stupid),  Gregory Border 35 (looks kind of like a Minaal copycat for a cheaper price- love Gregory bags but I know them mostly as a hiking pack company) and the Tortuga Outbreaker 35 (also rave reviews, but geez it’s expensive AND ugly too).
Having my roommates move out a few months ago was a surprisingly emotional experience, but one bright spot of the transition was that Ryan and I got the perfect chance to redecorate.
I’ve lived with other people’s ragtag furniture for eight years, maybe more. There was never a good time to redecorate, even when I became the master tenant. My roommates taped up old maps, strung up Christmas lights, and there was a leftover super heavy and hideous couch. There was also a large bookcase/entertainment center thing. It was very college dormroom.
I have an aversion to spending big money on furniture, it makes me antsy just thinking about how I’ll get rid of it in the future. I also thought that I was going to be moving, so there was no point. One time about a year and a half ago, Ryan and I tried to redecorate the living room. One of the roommates seemed unusually upset by the idea of change, so we put it off.
But shifting to new roommates meant a fresh start. Ryan especially wanted to throw everything out and redecorate from scratch.
BEFORE
AFTER
After getting the carpets power washed and having a wonderful man named Jesus drag the couch and bookcase to the dump, we had a blank slate.
I’m not sure why, but I was stuck on the idea of an orange living room. Ryan was really stuck on mid-century modern. We both got our way. We’re still thinking about art for the wall above the couch, but for the most part, I think it’s come together. I’m  glad we went with the orange, instead of chickening out and going with a blue or a green (which also would have been lovely, but a much different vibe). It’s so punchy, and has such warmth no matter what time of day.
The couch and rubber plant came from shops in the neighborhood, but everything else we found online (Wayfair, Amazon, AllModern).
Including these ridiculous ‘Mongolian Fur pillows.’ They arrived wild and free like the pillow on the left, but after a little brushing (with Ryan’s beard brush), the pillow looked soft as an angora bunny : D.
Anyways, that’s it! I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.
