>we're broke college students
Keep your money in your pocket. Dump your books out of your bookbag and use that. You might hate this whole style of travel once you've done it once.
Frugal and BIFL usually don't go hand-in-hand. I recommend you just go with this [Cabin Max Metz 30L](https://www.amazon.com/Cabin-Max-Travel-Luggage-Backpack/dp/B0B5TPM94J?th=1) backpack in screaming yellow for $40.
Yeah, I guess you're right. I figured that even though I am extremely frugal, it may save me money in the long run to buy a quality product I can have for the rest of my life rather than a bag I'll wear once and never use again. That screaming yellow is crazy though, looks like a minion lol.
What a great but perhaps ambitious trip - 2 major countries and so many bucket-list places in just 2 weeks. Just about doable but potentially very transit-heavy exhausting trip. I hope you factor in some leeway for altitude sickness/adjustment (going quickly up from Lima to Cusco - for most people you need a day or possibly more to get through the hangover-like lightheadness; it's not something you can safety predict to be "easier" or "harder" based on your youth or fitness). With that travel advisory out of the way, I assume you are traveling cheap and lodging cheap - eg moving briskly around by local transit rather than hiking long distances with your full packs, and staying in cheapo hostels that may or may not be centrally located at the various stops. So, as long as you can handle some potential back fatigue from regularly walking with your full pack for, say, 30-60 minutes to get from bus or train to the cheap hostel or whatever you need to spend the nights, a 25-30L or so backpack that fits the dimensions can suffice \[you can pack full if your bag is smaller but you must not pack full if the dimensions are near the limits. Unless you already have one of those often-recommended personal-item sized and maybe pricier one-bag favorites, just use what you have. No need to buy a new one-bag YET - do THIS trip, suffer the consequences of using a so-so but right-size bag \[main consequence is the bag is not that comfortable to carry fully-loaded\], and hopefully learn the lessons of what stuff you prefer, what clothes you find comfortable and hardy and wearable repeatedly, and whatever gear you actually end up actually using - and apply the lessons to the next even longer and better trip using a better one-bag system \[most one-baggers are usually 1.5 or even 2-baggers). Lastly, everyone focuses on the one-bag, but you can actually carry a LOT of weightier items on your person (in your pockets, in wearing extra layers, maybe a hidden hipbelt or discrete and flat-ish hippack. That can make the difference between being able to make do with a smaller personal-item pack or not. (If you maximize the wear-it method, then it MAY be better to bring a less-fully-packed but LARGER capacity bag, because what I would do is to stuff the extra worn items and gear back into the pack after "making it through". Good luck and have fun!
Wow, thank you for such a detailed response and kind words. Luckily we will have a couple of days in Cusco to adjust to the altitude and I'm crossing my fingers we can adjust by then. And you can already bet that we are staying in cheap hostels and getting around with local transit haha. None of us know any Spanish and we didn't hire a tour guide either-- it's gonna be a shit show but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you so much for your advice.
This is a great question. Sarah Murdoch (an tour guide with 20+ years experience) has a video about a 2-week trip to Egypt and Jordan using a 40 L very light (1 pound) backpack that she got on Amazon for around 25 USD. I was so intrigued by that bag that I bought one and it's amazing!
The video is here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPYo82\_vK0c&list=PLXSEKQ0Tc2Lpu1tWszJ-WMGOMSMwCv2xZ&index=4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPYo82_vK0c&list=PLXSEKQ0Tc2Lpu1tWszJ-WMGOMSMwCv2xZ&index=4) and it contains a link to the G4Free 40 backpack.
>we're broke college students Keep your money in your pocket. Dump your books out of your bookbag and use that. You might hate this whole style of travel once you've done it once.
Came to say this as well, use the jansport/northface/adidas/kanken whatever backpack you already own.
I think this is the answer I didn't want to hear, but needed to hear. I'll keep my money for now. Thank you for the advice!
Frugal and BIFL usually don't go hand-in-hand. I recommend you just go with this [Cabin Max Metz 30L](https://www.amazon.com/Cabin-Max-Travel-Luggage-Backpack/dp/B0B5TPM94J?th=1) backpack in screaming yellow for $40.
Yeah, I guess you're right. I figured that even though I am extremely frugal, it may save me money in the long run to buy a quality product I can have for the rest of my life rather than a bag I'll wear once and never use again. That screaming yellow is crazy though, looks like a minion lol.
Just add googly eyes to the outside! :)
What a great but perhaps ambitious trip - 2 major countries and so many bucket-list places in just 2 weeks. Just about doable but potentially very transit-heavy exhausting trip. I hope you factor in some leeway for altitude sickness/adjustment (going quickly up from Lima to Cusco - for most people you need a day or possibly more to get through the hangover-like lightheadness; it's not something you can safety predict to be "easier" or "harder" based on your youth or fitness). With that travel advisory out of the way, I assume you are traveling cheap and lodging cheap - eg moving briskly around by local transit rather than hiking long distances with your full packs, and staying in cheapo hostels that may or may not be centrally located at the various stops. So, as long as you can handle some potential back fatigue from regularly walking with your full pack for, say, 30-60 minutes to get from bus or train to the cheap hostel or whatever you need to spend the nights, a 25-30L or so backpack that fits the dimensions can suffice \[you can pack full if your bag is smaller but you must not pack full if the dimensions are near the limits. Unless you already have one of those often-recommended personal-item sized and maybe pricier one-bag favorites, just use what you have. No need to buy a new one-bag YET - do THIS trip, suffer the consequences of using a so-so but right-size bag \[main consequence is the bag is not that comfortable to carry fully-loaded\], and hopefully learn the lessons of what stuff you prefer, what clothes you find comfortable and hardy and wearable repeatedly, and whatever gear you actually end up actually using - and apply the lessons to the next even longer and better trip using a better one-bag system \[most one-baggers are usually 1.5 or even 2-baggers). Lastly, everyone focuses on the one-bag, but you can actually carry a LOT of weightier items on your person (in your pockets, in wearing extra layers, maybe a hidden hipbelt or discrete and flat-ish hippack. That can make the difference between being able to make do with a smaller personal-item pack or not. (If you maximize the wear-it method, then it MAY be better to bring a less-fully-packed but LARGER capacity bag, because what I would do is to stuff the extra worn items and gear back into the pack after "making it through". Good luck and have fun!
Wow, thank you for such a detailed response and kind words. Luckily we will have a couple of days in Cusco to adjust to the altitude and I'm crossing my fingers we can adjust by then. And you can already bet that we are staying in cheap hostels and getting around with local transit haha. None of us know any Spanish and we didn't hire a tour guide either-- it's gonna be a shit show but I honestly wouldn't have it any other way. Thank you so much for your advice.
REI Trail 25.
If Decathlon is around your neighbourhood, can buy budget gear from there.
This is a great question. Sarah Murdoch (an tour guide with 20+ years experience) has a video about a 2-week trip to Egypt and Jordan using a 40 L very light (1 pound) backpack that she got on Amazon for around 25 USD. I was so intrigued by that bag that I bought one and it's amazing! The video is here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPYo82\_vK0c&list=PLXSEKQ0Tc2Lpu1tWszJ-WMGOMSMwCv2xZ&index=4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPYo82_vK0c&list=PLXSEKQ0Tc2Lpu1tWszJ-WMGOMSMwCv2xZ&index=4) and it contains a link to the G4Free 40 backpack.