Imagine going on your dream vacation, taking painstaking effort to plan every detail.  You know the restaurants that will make a foodie weep and the IG spots for that perfect travel photo. You’ve spent ages pairing your clothes to match the destination.

You get off your flight and breathe the air of your destination, run through the border patrol to get to baggage claim.  After several long rotations at the carousel – nothing.

Your bag is lost, and now your vacation consists of calls and emails with customer service, last minute shopping, and zero relaxation. 

On the same flight, someone grabs their only bag from overhead bin, breezes by baggage claim, and heads off to enjoy their vacation unimpeded. 

Be like that person!

While one bag travel is good, one backpack travel is great!  And Peak Design has set itself ahead of the travel backpack group by designing a bag that shines in every detail.  

After being locked indoors, ruminating in my wanderlust, and eating my emotions; I took the leap and purchased the backpack. 

• BAG STATSCapacity 35L (standard), 45L (max), 30L (min)

• Interior Dimensions Standard: 21″ x 13″ x 6.5″ (53.3cm x 33cm x 16.5cm)

• Exterior Dimensions Standard: 22″ x 13″ x 9.5” (56cm x 33cm x 24cm)

• Weight (empty) 4.5 lbs (2.05 kg)

• Laptop Capacity 15” (16″ x 11″ x 1”)

• Warranty Guaranteed for Life

• Material Exterior: Weatherproof 400D Nylon and poly melange.

First Impressions

Materials and Design: The materials are quality and every aspect of the bag feels well thought out, and what more could you expect from a company called Peak Design. 

The look is sleek and minimal, not the kind of bag that would draw the attention of pickpockets. 

Pockets: Pockets are well thought out with a selection of quick access (hello deep water bottle pockets) and hidden pockets (hello secret zipper in the water bottle pocket). Inside of the bag, the pockets are thin and unobtrusive, perfect for eye shadow palettes for those “high maintenance” travelers or cord organization for those tech heavy travelers. 

With a full clamshell opening, this offers the same experience of packing a suitcase instead of a shoving all your stuff into a top loading backpack. The bonus feature of side access pockets keeps everything at your fingertips. 

There’s still plenty of unimpeded space for packing cubes and general organization. The bag is meant to double as a day pack with a snap system that will contract the 35L backpack down to 30L, and an expandable zip that will take the bag to 45L. Beware though, at 45L, the bag is too big for most airplane carryon sizing. And no one has time for paying oversize fees and gate checking bags. 

Straps: The harness system is where this bag truly shines. With a magnetic system to hide straps and hiop flaps when not in use, it embodies a clean aesthetic. 

Price: This bag is an… ahem… investment. $$$ But, it’s also chock full of features that will make one bag travel possible. When we consider that the design is made to function with every aspect of our travel, then it’s fair to say that this bag is still a value. 

Now all we have to do is wait for the world to open back up so that I can take this bag for a spin and truly see what it can do. 

Check out the bag on the Peak Design website.

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