Ah, backpacks. Like guidebooks they spell freedom, the open road, the search for the perfect one…
My first backpack was some purple and blue monstrosity. I didn't take it on my first trip (to Europe) so why I bought it I don't know - probably just in case that first long dreamed of trip miraculously materialised. It was as least 60 litres and had a detachable day pack. It hung around for years mouldering up the place. Because I'd been obsessed by travel and the mechanics of travel (backpacks, guide books, packing lists) for years by my first trip I was determined to travel light. (Just an aside, I distinctly remember sitting in the library at high school pouring over Lonely Planet India - I would be a few trips and many years before I got there but eventually I did.) To this day my determination to travel light is in direct opposition with my normal life where I carry everything but the kitchen sink for a trip to the supermarket.
I received sage advice from the most intrepid traveller I know, my friend Rachel. The list of where she hasn't been is shorter than that of where she has (hi Rachel!). The advice was something to the effect of travel light and take a lot of zip lock bags. Zip lock bags are vital - the biggest ones can keep smelly clothes from clean, the smallest can keep that open packet of washing powder you bought at some general store in the back blocks of India from ending up in every crevice of your pack. (I also carry gaffer tape and cable ties but tend to get strange looks from people when I tell them.)
So, on my first big trip - nearly 4 months of constant travel around Europe with stopovers in the US (hi Anthony!) - I vowed to "pack light". I wish I had a list of what I took on that trip, it would be fascinating to see what I then thought indispensable. What I do know is it was all packed in a Berghaus Freeflow 35 + 8 top loader. I loved that pack - you could stuff it to bursting and it was still comfortable to carry. 4 months, 43 litres - hells bells! That is not to say I didn't come back with a crapload more than when I started - who doesn't? I do remember strapping another backpack full of paper (mainly museum floor plans and brochures) to to front. The other beauty of this pack was it didn't have a zip off daypack which I've always felt makes you look like a day glo turtle when attached to the main pack. In that I prefer satchels to backpacks generally the zip off pack is a bit redundant. My Berghuas lasted a good 6 years - it also did me for 6 weeks in India in 2006. I still have it but bits of it are broken - it sits in my cupboard as a reminder of trips past.
So with a new trip in the planning the search was on for a new pack. While I loved my top loader they do become a bit tedious after a while, no matter how smart you pack invariably what you want is at the bottom. Also, they're not very streamlined with straps and holders hanging everywhere with no way of hiding the straps away. So what I wanted was a hybrid travel pack with a single zipped compartment with zip away straps and no day pack. However my choices in this are were quite limited as there isn't much (in Australia) between a 35lt day pack and 60+lt packs with zip of day packs that convert into a yurt etc. But I found one made by an Australian company - One Planet. Their Mini Freddy is perfect for me, 45 litres, single compartment and zip away straps. Its an odd shape, slightly bulbous at the bottom but I figure its better for weight distribution with most of it resting on your hips (and my child bearing hips can take quite a bit!). Its red and blue - I don't know why packs are such garish colours, really there is no way to disguise the fact you are carrying everything you own in one bag. The locals have seen backpackers before be you in Phuket or Tajikistan, you're not fooling anyone. So, new pack, the usual obsessive packing list, passport, tickets, money - I'm ready to go!
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