I abhor air travel. It鈥檚 not because I dislike being sleeplessly crammed in a plane seat聽as the person sitting in front of me reclines all the way back, or because I inhale stale air mixed with other people鈥檚 germs, or because聽the infant in some distant row will wail聽incessantly鈥攖hough none of that聽is聽fun, either.
What I truly hate are the logistics:聽arriving at the airport with enough time to check luggage, get through security, and make it to the gate stresses me out. Forget it if I have a connection. Before I board the first plane, I鈥檓 already thinking about the second flight, whether there鈥檚 weather that鈥檒l slow us down and put me in danger of missing it, which gate I鈥檒l need to sprint to, and so on. (One of the worst nights of my life was spent in Dallas after my flight from Philadelphia was delayed, causing me to miss my connection to Albuquerque before we鈥檇 even left the tarmac in Philly.) Then there鈥檚 finding my checked bags once I鈥檝e landed, and only God and the airlines (maybe) know where those might be.
But I鈥檝e become much more Zen about the whole process since I got my hands on ($200) over a year ago. If I鈥檓 going anywhere for four days or less, it鈥檚 all that I bring. The main compartment holds several shirts, plenty of socks and underwear, a couple pairs of pants, and my Dopp kit. Exterior pockets at the top and bottom are good for storing keys, sunglasses, and a spare pair of shoes. A secret zippered stash on the back can hide聽sensitive documents like passports. The pi猫ce de r茅sistance, though, is the included laptop pack, which slips into a dedicated compartment and has ample storage for my computer and all its accompanying cords, my cell-phone charger, magazines, notebooks, and pens. If I arrive at my hotel room on a work trip and need to run to a meeting, I can drop the larger pack, pull out the laptop bag, and go.
All that comes in a burly 800-denier package that fits comfortably in the overhead鈥攐r even under the seat in front of me in a pinch鈥攕o I know exactly where it is, with聽no checked-luggage fee, trip to baggage claim, or stress required.