For my travels, I’ve decided to go with a two-bag approach. This isn’t surprising: three bags would be inconvenient with constantly checking it when flying and I don’t want to completely destroy my shoulders.
Many nomadic travelers go with only one-bag, but I don’t think I can or want to drop that low. I have just enough stuff that two bags is more convenient.
The first bag is the Red Oxx AirBoss, and the second is this new bad boy from Tom Bihn (yes I just referred to a backpack as a “bad boyâ€).
The Synapse 25 is a nice step up from the Synapse 19 (Joel McLaughin has a great writeup of both here). It also happens to be available in a shade of my favorite color (that’s Orange for the colorblind among you; if you have synthesia, let me know what it tastes like).
The role of this bag is arguably more important than that of the AirBoss. This bag houses my electronics (computer, external hard drive, iPod, chargers, converter, surge protector, remote clicker, cables), papers (passport, external driver’s license, comedy notebook), and snacks (varies but often includes Pop Tarts and Goldfish crackers).
The large pocket is divided by a thin flap. I put my computer, cords, chargers, and gorilla camera stand on one side. The other side gets a tightly-packed raincoat, first aid kit, and thank you cards. And on the top go the snacks.
There are two side poaches, one side for health-type items (Advil, diarrhea pills, hand sanitizer), the other side for accessories (mini-display cables, remote clicker). The larger front pocket contains important documents (it’s surprisingly deep and tough to reach into) and the smaller front pocket gets business cards, gift cards, public transportation cards, and Game of Thrones (kinda, it is on a thumb drive).
There’s a separate pouch for my water bottle, which is water proof to the other parts of the bag, and it has little spandex straps that I’m not entirely sure what they’re used for.
The bag is still new, so we’ll see how it goes, but I am pretty excited to travel the world with this sexy thing.
