XL Laptop Backpack for serious travel
I am almost packed and ready to go to SES San Jose. I’ll be leaving the house in less than 12 hours. I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.
I’ll come back from San Jose on Thursday, August 10th. Then three days later I leave for The Philippines. I’m going to the chapel, and I’m going to get married.
Yesterday, I bought new luggage. I bought a Targus XL laptop bag, big enough for my Dell XPS Gen2, which has a huge 1920×1200 17-inch screen. While I haven’t actually put the laptop in the bag yet, I’m happy with it so far as it has a lot more space in it than the Pacific Design Action II Rolling XL Backpack that it is replacing. The Pacific Design bag has only been to three of four SEO conferences, Pubcon Las Vegas November 2005, SES Chicago December 2005, and SES New York 2006, and it’s coming apart inside. The stitching just gave out, the weight of this XPS is just too much for it. Also, the Pacific pack was very heavy just by itself in comparison to the Targus bag.
One of the reasons I made the switch is that I’m going back to The Philippines on August 14th, the Monday following SES San Jose and a roller backpack would be too much of a pain in the ass in The Philippines. The sidewalks are uneven and there are a lot of rocks around. Rolling luggage is fairly unstable on relatively even ground, but in the Philippines I would end up carrying the pack on my shoulders anyway, so why have all that steel frame and wheels and stuff?
I also bought an American Tourister 4-piece luggage set at Walmart for $55. There’s a 25-inch Pullman roller, a smaller carry-on roller, then there’s a 32-inch duffel roller, and last there’s another carry on bag with a shoulder starp and nylon mesh carrying handles.