Traveling with Just a Backpack

Tonight, I was waiting to board a crowded flight on a small regional jet, when the gate agent announced, “The overhead spaces are all full; we will need to gate-check all of your roller bags for the rest of the boarding process...”

Ug! All of a sudden, you’ve lost all of the benefit of trying to carry on your bag, instead of checking it. You’ve been sentenced to wait in a crowded jet-bridge (which is invariably either too hot or too cold!) for the never-fast-enough ground crew at your destination to bring your bag back to you. And, you’ve lost access to everything you might want to use in your flight.

Traveling with JUST a backpack solves this problem... IF you can make it fit somewhere on the crowded flight, and, of course, if it will hold everything you need for the trip. The Onli Venture Backpack, when expanded into a “weekender bag”, is designed to do exactly that. It perfectly fits our shirt-and-pants folder, our socks-and-underwear cube, and our toiletries kit, so you can take everything you need for a 2 to 5 day trip. It also holds your computer, tablet, charging cords, 3-1-1 cube, and a jacket, umbrella, raincoat, and workout outfit and shoes. It can function as BOTH your daypack or commuting pack, and as your carry-on suitcase.

When you are traveling with JUST a backpack, and it looks professional, gate agents almost never ask you to gate check it or measure it. No one realizes it holds just as much as a smaller carry-on. So, you get to march onto the plane with a smile, while other passengers endure the tagging and confiscation of their luggage. This is exactly what I did on the this flight.

Now you just have to make it fit on the plane! Once again, the Onli Venture™ Backpack is designed to help! It can be zipped into two pieces, so you can probably find a place for the two pieces somewhere in the overhead compartments (Yay! You have legroom!) If you can’t find room overhead, one or both pieces will usually fit under the seat. And, the Onli Venture Backpack gives you a third option... strap the front unit to the back of the seat in front of you! This gives you access to all your electronics and other items during flight... and legroom!

So, when you land, you walk past the grumbling mob in the jet-bridge, sweating or shivering, while they wait for their luggage.

Traveling with just a backpack has a lot of other advantages: You have both hands free, so your cell phone can be held up to your ear while you sip your latte. Without having to roll anything, you are more agile in crowds and no longer fear stairs. And, since your expanded backpack is your suitcase, you don’t have to repack your daily work backpack into your suitcase when you travel... you just take it with you, and expand it so it BECOMES your suitcase.

Here’s to easy traveling!

Dave, and the Onli Travel team