I bought my first travel backpack 6 years ago. I took it on my first ever trip overseas - a 30 day tour of Europe with Contiki. A very cliche experience for most Australian teenagers, however, being 19, young and stupid, I honestly think it was the best idea I ever had. Looking back, I don't think 19 year old me would have survived Europe without that tour bus, the large amount of people always by your side and the ability to be given a glimpse into almost another world, Europe is a good 24 hour flight away from Australia, with a deep rich history which was missing from my youth growing up in country Australia.
Two years later, I took that same backpack and made my own way around Europe for 6 months, staying in hostels, with friends and on strangers couches, that backpack held so many memories. Not only did it come with me to every country I travelled to, but it also served as a couch, pillow and seat when required Back flashforward to the present day and not only is it tattered and missing parts, it's also 90 litres worth of space. Considering that I had no idea where I would be travelling to or how I accepted that the only way that my luggage was going to get from A to B was going to be on my back.
So here I am, standing in the store staring at all the backpacks when I start to freak myself out over two things. 1 - they look a hell of a lot tinier than I was expecting. And 2 - how in the world am I expected to put my entire life into one of them. I understand the need for a range of different backpacks to be available, everyone has different needs. But when you are already freaking out about what your undertaking and how in the world are your going to break it to your parents, variety isn't something you need. I spent two hours in that shop, going through each backpack separating, weighing up which one offered better pockets, which was the lightest, the most durable, which one felt more comfortable on. After going through all of the different types and decided that I liked and hated them all, I brought out the Google. Know I love Google, Google saves me daily and I fully accept my dependence towards him, but he is also able to send you into a web page vortex, where you search for hours on end, looking at things that you didn't even need to know about. I started out Googling about the reviews of different backpack brands and ended up reading a blog article on the benefits of travelling with waterproof underwear.
After Google left me questioning my huge life decision to pack up and leave, even more, I quickly reached out and grabbed the smallest backpack they had on stock that was also in the darkest colour. A 50L black backpack. I immediately went up to the counter and paid for it, no longer thinking, just acting.
Once I got home I congratulated myself on making a vicarious decision.... until I looked down at the backpack and realised that I was going to be living in the same pair of pants for entirety on my trip because the pack was so small. Google 1 Macey 0
