hey there today I am sharing travel tips to help you find the best backpack I
will be testing backpacks from Samsonite eBags Marmot and other top backpacks I
will test their capacity and their features as well as with tips that I
have learned from each one if you commute to work if you pack a laptop or
if you just travel for leisure this video is going to help you choose the
backpack based on my tips that are going to help
your packing needs travel where the backpack is an essential packing item
for me I use my backpack as an extension of my suitcase
ask yourself four questions do you need pockets in a backpack
how many is your backpack for traveling to work
what would you pack in your backpack and what is the problem the backpack is
solving for you not all backpacks are created the same
many of my YouTube viewers asked me how to find my backpack and it is sold out
but I'm going to go through some tips and some features and its capacity to
help you see other types and I will link this one below so that you can see the
other kind that this company offers but I remember that this backpack is for you
and your needs the tips are just based on my experience of 17 plus years as a
pilot wife the more I travel the more I learn and gather from watching other
people and making mistakes and learning on my own thanks for visiting my travel
tips by laurie youtube channel i hope you find information and tips in this video
that are going to help you make an educated guess or an educated choice for
your backpack and be sure to stick around to the end to hear my passport
travel tip before i discuss each backpack we need to address dimensions
per airline most of the mainline airplanes the big ones have size
restrictions for the under the seat personal item there are 18 or 17 inches
by 14 by 8 inches or 45 by 35 by 20 centimeters I'm going to link the three
major airline requirements down below in the description box along with all the
other details from this video remember to
do your research and find out the size of the airplane that you are going to be
traveling on with that backpack because the 50 seat airplanes their size
requirements are a little bit smaller because the seat widths are a little bit
smaller a personal item size backpack is all that I'm going to be talking about
today all of these will fit underneath your airplane seat remember from my
traveling with medicines that a CPAP machine crutches breast milk those do
not count as your liquids or your carry-on or personal item there are all
types of travelers out there those who like pockets and those who do not need
pockets I am more of a pouch girl like I need capacity and then I will organize
in my pouches but if you are commuting to work or need a laptop bag I highly
recommend this one that I won from a bags a couple of years ago I will pack
with this if I am taking my laptop and camera because the padding and the
storage is they're both amazing and the features are fantastic and here's where
a lot of people would put their cords for their electronics their a laptop
charger once they get to the hotel room the iPad charger in this front section
alone there are one two three four five six even with the little velcro section
seven eight nine and then 10 pockets and then there's also space for the pin and
then down here is it's kind of funky but down here is where if you wanted to
store your laptop cords your hefty bulky items you could and it has a very firm
almost really firm cardboard backing to it with some felt right there that is
great for storage and protection you need to know if you like mesh pockets my
husband as a pilot loves mesh pockets because they have a lot of stretch to
them and he can see immediately what he means this is a feature I don't care for
as leisure travel it only opens like this
understand that you only need that much sometimes when you're traveling but
there's also a flap kind of pocket some people like that but in the very back is
where I would store my laptop so I'm not sure what all you would store in there
maybe some legal pads or some manila folders that kind of thing lots of
storage back here but again it only opens like that almost like a briefcase
backpack and it has a handle on the top and a handle on the side so that you
could really store this or use this as a briefcase and if you want to you can
even cross the straps by hooking them by hooking this one over there and this one
over there it would cross the straps and kind of secure them one of the best
features that they have is that this pocket for your water bottle can be
zipped and totally flattened one of the best features of this laptop backpack is
that you can fit this over your handles and be totally hands-free you don't have
to worry about balancing your backpack on top of your carry-on suitcase walking
through the airport or walking outside a couple of blocks to the work area the
skyscraper if you are carrying a laptop it is gonna have padding but pay
attention to the padding this has three sections of very firm and thick padding
which is really hot and sweaty for me walking through like if you're touring
a city now my husband just celebrated his 20th anniversary with an airline and
instead of choosing like a five person boat or a crystal vase he chose a
Samsonite backpack this thing is monstrous you can see set beside my
backpack it looks huge it does fit the dimensions for underneath an airplane
seat I didn't even put a paper towel roll inside it because I knew it would
fit I mean you could probably fit two inside here this is how much bigger it
is than just a roll of paper towels one of the features I liked about my
husband's backpack is that the back pocket for your computer also has these
little pockets in it for organization and in an inside inner
pocket even with a little velcro strap that you could set in there to really
extra protect it this backpack is eight pounds the zippers go all the way to the
bottom on the big pocket and inside you have like one up here a zipper pocket up
here a mesh pocket it is mesh all the way down to the bottom of the backpack
you have huge storage that's where you could fit a paper towel roll and you
have to flap pockets down in here it is a nice manly color I think with the army
green inside you also have a pocket here and then this when you unzip both sides
of the pocket it's like it folds out instead of opening up which is really
nice and it sits up on its own pretty much it's almost like it is surrounded
by cardboard but you can't feel the cardboard I don't know if there's
something stiff and their zippers or what on the front I like this side
little pocket right here then there is this front pocket right here and then
there is a zipper pocket here and they are shallow it goes like the width or
depth of my hand and then in the bottom section of pockets on the front section
is another pocket right here and it really spreads open like if you're not
like sticking your hand down there oh what am I gonna find it's like a high
maintenance pocket to sift through it's an easy the easily accessible pocket if
that makes sense but there's a ton of room down in here and then you also have
this pocket with additional pockets like flat pockets inside now let me show you
the water bottle pocket it is on both sides but it's almost like a flap if you
can see that and then if you need the space look at this it's got like these
elastic sections of it that can really expand for a bigger water bottle or
something deep on the back you have a subdued padding for that whole laptop
area and then you also have another two
pockets on the back like here's one and then there's a zipped one right here
it's amazing we really like the straps of this one they're thin enough and
they're padded but they don't feel heavy or constricting into your skin kind of
if you know what I mean like these kind of whoa these kind of straps they kind
of dig into your skin after a while especially if it's heavy and this
backpack does weigh about eight pounds on its own you would like this kind of a
backpack if you need a lot of storage and really sturdy backpack that you're
not gonna carry around while sightseeing or something like that for my backpack
needs capacity is the number one most important factor I always roll up a
hoodie or a jacket and put it in the base of my backpack for testing purposes
I have a roll of paper towels down there and that shows you the space that my
hoodie or my jacket would take up think of what big thing can be taken out of
your suitcase and put or packed in the bottom or base of your backpack and then
that gives you a good 6 inches almost like a slimline suitcase of space inside
that back pocket now mine is basically like a school size a JanSport backpack
but with a little softer fabric my mom did buy this exact same backpack but she
did not want to take it to Israel so I'm gonna show you hers that she brought
just the other day that I videoed in a little bit when I get on the airplane
most everything is in the back of my backpack and then I take out what I'm
gonna need for the flight like my headphone holder my phone prop my
charger for my phone my power bank I want you to think about like what kind
of headphones you use most airplanes have like the entertainment system if
you have a newer iPhone make sure you have the right little adapter 2 for
older air place and I talked about that in my what to take to Europe or a not
different yet when you go to Europe video I'll link it in the cards and
below but just think about that and then also think about what can stand up
vertically in that front paw so I take that stuff out of my backpack
and store it in the seat back pocket and then I put the rest of my backpack and
that hoodie I just stuff it on top of my backpack underneath the airplane seat
are you going to pack like a crossbody in there I had another subscriber tell
me that she packs her makeup brushes in her empty crossbody bag that she's gonna
use once she gets to her destination I bought this really cute navy one from
Francesca's about two years ago and I don't like it I need to just give it
away it has one pocket but I don't like the big old thick lip it makes it
cumbersome trying to get into the backpack but I can fit like a hoody in
there and that's about it maybe a book or a couple of pouches so
think about what your needs are what problem is the backpack solving for you
now this is what my husband has used for the last ten years eight years and it
has been totally fun and functional based on their features the front pocket
is really really deep I took a picture of a what I think is a hiker traveler
and it's by Mormont and it looked amazing but it was more of a suitcase
sized backpack for you but I'll link it below if I can find it okay invent
monstrous storage capacity to pack lots of things in here and it does have the
padding in the back for a laptop and the flap right there not sure what this hook
is if you know leave me a comment below on the e bags and the Samsonite backpack
we love that you can fit it over your handles of your suitcase but on this one
he has this kind of strap that goes across so it locks them and it also
locks it down here at the bottom you can see it's a long there long extra straps
so he just wrapped them around but that lets you put them on your suitcase
handles and not be worried about balancing your backpack like I said my
mom has my exact same backpack but when she went to Israel she thought it was
going to be too small and actually it's about the same dimensions she thought
she would have more room in this backpack because it does have four
pockets mine has two large pockets now to me it's not that much of a difference
but each pocket is pretty deep this is also a school like backpack and one
paper towel tube or roll can fit down in there like a hoodie would or a thick
thick sweater would and then here you have this pocket on the inside that
would protect a laptop per se on the back she does have the three pads of
protection or comfort if that makes sense in the third pocket is just as
deep you would not be able to fit a paper towel roll down in there but she
can fit several things down in there then there's this pocket that also has
an additional little slip pocket and a little additional slip pocket so lots of
little gadget spaces areas or gadget space areas and then she's got her t90
little pocket right there that you could maybe fit your hand down into this zips
they do all four zip and then the pockets that are inside do not zip
they're open kind of pockets if that makes a difference to you when I was
looking in her backpack I found this tee-niney little travel
umbrella I'm going to ask her where she got it
from and link it below for you it's no bigger than my hand I don't know if
she's used it because the cover is still on it and you know how high maintenance
it is sometimes fitting your umbrella back in the little holder protector
thing but anyway I thought that was interesting
and this is by J world but I will link it below as well here's a great passport
tip for you who are traveling with children if you are traveling abroad
most of the time the adult carries all the passports right? well when you get to
customs or wherever you need to show your passport it's cumbersome to look
through and flip through each page to find the picture so that you know which
passport belongs to which kid a great tip is to just put a little sticker on
the back with each child's initials and that way when you get there you can just
look the sticker okay this has J it belongs
to Jake this belongs to Suzy that kind of thing I hope that helps
anyway I hope this test of the top backpacks will help you make an educated
guess on a backpack that fits your needs based on my experience and my tips that
I have learned thanks again for visiting and have a great trip wherever you go