How to Select The Best Backpack for One Bag Travel
There's something so freeing about traveling with only one bag. All of your important stuff is within arm's reach, and it forces you to cut down of many of life's seemingly-necessary consumer goods that you can probably live without. With one bag, you easily glide from location to location, always having just enough, but never too much.
Choosing the perfect travel backpack for one bag travel can be a tough endeavor. There are so many brands and models to choose from with varying degrees of durability, price, and try-on-ability (we made this word up for trying something out before buying it online). Add varying views and opinions into the mix from folks with different values, needs, and body types—and you've got a veritable of options to wade through. Whether you're a new traveler gearing up for your first trip, a digital nomad going through a “sell-all-my-stuff-and-put-it-in-a-backpack” phase, or somewhere in between, it's essential to have the best travel backpack that works for you.
Here's the bottom line: There is no “best” backpack that is perfect for every traveler in every scenario. However, we believe it is possible for everyone to find a pack that's perfect for their unique needs. In this guide, we'll break down the factors we think are most important when choosing the perfect one bag travel backpack for you.
This guide is written and informed by Pack Hacker contributors, many of whom are frequent travelers and digital nomads. That means we're using and testing these products everyday to build a better understanding of what's available out there and how each bag may appeal to different types of travelers. If you'd rather skip all this info and get straight to the backpacks we've reviewed, you can take a look at all of our Travel Backpack Reviews.
The Aer Travel Pack 2 picks up right where it's predecessor left off—a great one bag travel pack with a slick look and high attention to detail.
Nearly indestructible—the GORUCK GR2 is a maximum carry-on sized backpack that will hold up in any condition you're able to throw at it.
The Peak Design Travel Backpack is nothing short of genius. Its innovative features and design make it a stand-out in our mind, even though some of the materials left a bit to be desired.
The Tom Bihn Synik took a great travel bag (the Synapse) and made it even better—with top-notch organization, an ergonomic design, and added customization.
Despite the crunchy material and boxy aesthetic, we came to really dig the Tortuga Outbreaker Backpack—which has one of the most comfortable harness systems we've tested.
The Eagle Creek Wayfinder Backpack 40L is a great choice for one bag travel. The internal organization is a bit intense, but there is a place for everything!
We've been testing the Osprey Farpoint 40 Travel Backpack for over a year and love the durability, carry, and hideaway harness system. However, the laptop sleeve is a bit puzzling and the aesthetic may not be for everyone.
The REI Ruckpack 40 is a solid travel pack with a slick look, excellent carry, stealthy organization, and a metric ton of functionality. If you couldn't tell, we like it quite a bit...but we're not huge fans of the laptop compartment or the lack of strap management.
Want a one bag travel backpack that functions just as well as a daypack? The Thule Subterra 34L may just be the pack you're looking for.
The Minaal Carry-on 2.0 is a roomy, minimalist-styled backpack that has some great features and only a few minor faults. A solid option for one-bag travel.
In this guide, we're going for travel versatility. We want you to look good carrying these bags around in an urban environment, but also have the flexibility to head out on a hike for a couple days of camping without having your backpack ruined by the elements. If you've got a piece of roller luggage, it's going to be hard to do that spontaneous ½ day trek on the trail to the neighboring city you've been wanting to check out. Likewise, if you want to post up at a coffee shop for a day of office work, you're going to look out of place with bulky, multi-colored hiking bag. The packs mentioned in this article will blend into most city environments and are durable enough to withstand the abuse of longer excursions.
