As much as I hate to admit it, I am going to have to take a smaller bag on our trip than I have tried before. I am a chronic over packer and will completely fill whatever space I have. When a 46-liter pack is full, it is just too heavy for me. Sooo, I have purchased an Osprey Farpoint 40. Its compact size is carry-on compliant and can be used as a backpack or the straps can be zipped behind a panel and it can be carried like a suitcase. It does not have wheels so one way or another it will have to be carried. I found that the Farpoint 40, while technically a smaller bag than the Meridian 22” (see Part 2 posted on July 17th), actually holds more. The Farpoint actually has 40 liters of interior space. Because the wheels take up significant space inside the bag, the Meridian only holds 39.34 liters.

So as it stands now, Michael is going to take the Osprey Porter 46 and I am going to take the Osprey Farpoint 40. Now I just have to figure out how to pare down my packing list so it fits in my 40 liters of space. I have practice packed (yes, I know it is still eight months until we leave) with my existing list and it seems like it is very possible. If anything new gets added to the list then something else will have to be left behind.

Fully packed (and I mean fully packed as in nothing else will fit) the Farpoint 40 weighs just less than 20 pounds. I can comfortably carry this weight with the backpack straps and I can also carry it with the handle or shoulder strap.

You can see that there is a theme to all three bags we have tried, they are all Osprey products. We have looked at and researched many different kinds and brands of travel packs and have found Osprey to be very well made and to have gotten great reviews from satisfied customers. We are now the proud owners of three Osprey travel packs and although I have had a hard time finding the one that is right for me, we have had no complaints about their products.

Now that we are satisfied with our bags, that is one thing crossed off of our to do list and we can move on to the other 99.