Would you believe it if I told you that there backpackers of sorts who have figured out how to look like they’re not travelling light at all judging by the pictures they snap of themselves seemingly wearing different clothes at all the destinations they visit? Well you better believe it because it’s true. You can jet off all around the world with a single piece of luggage – a carry-on bag for that matter and still have access to an adequate supply of traveller’s essentials.

It’s all about picking out the right carry-on bag and there are a few pointers to consider when doing so.

Let the Airlines Guide You

Okay, so you’ll have a bit of homework to do, but it’ll be fun, as is any form of research completed by someone who is looking for information about some of their planned travels. What you should do is go through the websites of every single airline you’ve ever used in your entire life and any airline you think you might fly with at any point in the future. This includes some of the smaller airlines which service specific regions of course, such as the likes of those of the Philippines servicing routes such as Bangkok, Malaysia, etc. In Europe this would perhaps be the likes of RyanAir, etc.

Now pay attention to the maximum size (by volume) allowed for your carry-on luggage and use that as a guide to pick out your backpack. You can push the limits a little with regards to the smaller airlines, because chances are in any case that you’ll be using many of the bigger airlines most of the time. So what if an hour flight with a smaller regional airline has you having to check-in your bag instead of carrying ii on? You can always remove some of your valuables like your laptop and carry that on…

Otherwise you’d probably just have to pay a little bit extra with the smaller airlines.

So the idea is for you to know just how big you can safely go with the size of your carry-on backpack, officially.

Some airlines like Etihad Airways even have their own online traveller’s stores, so if something there is listed explicitly as a carry-on piece of luggage, you’ll know that it meets all the requirements.

Designated Laptop Compartment

Who doesn’t travel with their laptop in this day and age? Frequent travellers such as digital nomads in particular have to have their laptops with them, so in picking out your carry-on bag, make sure it has a special compartment which is clearly reserved for your laptop. This will make sure no space is wasted when you have to fit everything else in alongside your laptop and what it also means is that with those airlines which insist you take your laptop out when your bag is passing through the scanner, you won’t have to be taking everything else out just to get to the laptop.

Otherwise everything else pretty much sorts itself out and you can fit a three-week supply of clothes into the best designed of carry-on bags available, easily.