Hello all,

I was wondering if you could help me. I will soon start my big trip and am getting all my gear ready. So I am going to take a lite backpack with me and will also take my laptop with me. I know this is not exactly classified as traveling lite but I was wondering if anyone could recommend a brand or a kind of style I should get. Is it better to go for a messenger bag or a backpack? I have been browsing for quiet a while now but just came across sites like this this but still I think I would like to hear some reviews and personal opinions.
This is my first big trip (for a few months through South America) and I wanna be prepared.
Thanks so much!
Laura

Laura, you have stumbled unawares into a place where "backpacking" means something quite different from what you plan to do. Here it means trekking on wilderness trails, far from roads, buildings and all other such amentities. As a rule, we don't bring laptops with us.

However, because our inhabitants are quite versatile and interesting people, some of us may have the information you seek. Meanwhile, the usual response to those who come here looking for better ideas about hosteling around the world with a backpack, is to point them to the Lonely Planet website and its forums, as these align more closely with your quest.

Good luck. Have fun and take a ton of pictures.

I did a backpacking trip right after then end of a semester of college with a friend once were we did about 25 miles of back road walking first and dropped off some of our school stuff at his house before heading out on our 3 week trip.

Anyhow I had an LLbean messanger bag (similar to LLBean one) that I had the laptop in and it worked nice with my frame pack. The bag has held up very very well for 8 years and LLbean has a lifetime warranty.

There are lots of nice packs though, look around and if you can try the bag out with a the pack your going to use on, see if they jive:)

Good luck with your trip!

-Nick

I've never done that type of backpacking, but my Kelty Redwing 3100 would probably work great for it. It has a hydration sleeve that could also fit most sized laptops, and is extremely comfortable if you have to wear it for extended amounts of time.