http://spreadsheets.google.com/feeds/list/pv6W-xHCsGGGOPCCZ1EezEQ/od6/public/basic/dtbek2009-11-03T07:16:52.328Zcountryonyourpassport: USA, firstname: Mark, yourage: 40, travelascoupleorsingle: Single, whatisthelongesttimeyouhaveevertraveledoutsideyourcountry: 13 months india and southeast asia, brandnameofbackpack: Eagle Creek, whatdidyoupayforbaginu.s.dollars: $100 on discount old model, listtheitemsthathavebrokeonyourbag.: In the photos the "Voyage" looks like the newer version of my bag. My bag was the Eagle Creek Subcontinental Journey. Now it is called "Voyage". The price of $185 is what the retail price of mine was before I got it on discount. Nothing has broken on it., whatarethebiggestproblemsyouhadwiththebag: It's a little bit heavy. I think the newer version is made with a lighter but strong material. But my material is very durable so i'd have to see if the new version is as durable. , whatfeaturesorbenefitsdoyouwantincluded: The thing to notice about this backpack, or at least the subcontinental journey, is the shoulder straps. They are relatively simple padded straps. They tuck into the back panel. Then the panel zips shut at the top. In about 15 seconds at the airport I can tuck the straps away in the panel and check the bag. I always leave the hip straps tucked in and never use them. You could consider not even putting hip straps on the pack. Another thing is it has very good rugged zippers with lockable hasps. I think the newer version has cable run around the perimeter for locking. I lock my cable to the small travel locks that i put through the zipper hasps. Another thing is that it does not have a removable day pack. I don't like those because they are not secure. Instead it has a pocket in front that zips and locks like the main panel. It also doesn't have too much on the outside. Some straps. I use these to take more straps to strap on , howmuchweightdoyoucarryinthebag: 30, 40, 50 pounds, didyoureturnwithmorethanbagsthanyouleftwith: Of course! I brought a Lowe Klettersack (a narrow tall rucksack). When I wasn't using it I would roll it up and strap it to the bottom of the travelpack. I would also buy cheap nylon daypacks and use them until they wore out. I could also strap these to the bottom of my travelpack when I wasn't using them. I would put the travelpack on my back and then throw one or two daypacks over my right shoulder with one shoulderstrap., howoftendidyouusethewaistharness: Never, wasyourobbedonthetrip: Luckily, no. But I almost always locked my bag closed and chained it to something when on train trips. In India I felt comfortable throwing it on top of buses and locked it only occasionally there. I would keep my daypack between my legs on buses and put one leg through the shoulder strap. Occasionally I would throw it in the overhead bin but keep it in sight. But not if it had my computer in it, then it was always touching my person., didyourbagfallintothewaterontrip: No. But I many occasions where I could have., didyoucarryatent: No, didyoucarryasleepingbag: I carried a quilt that I made according to Ray Jardine's Ultralight Backpacker technique(Pacific Crest Trail Hiker's Handbook and Beyond Backpacking: Ray Jardines Guide to Lightweight Hiking.) . I made it from medium weight Thinsulate so it was very compact. I also took a synthetic fleece blanket in India and had a tailor sew a zipper to make it like a sleeping bag. It was also very compact. I would usually stuff them both into a stuff sack and strap them to the bottom of my travelpack. Re: Tent. I ended up buying a piece of polyethylene plastic and used it as a tarp when I was trekking in the Himalayas. I rigged it as Ray suggested with twine and stones like I did when I was a boy scout., didyoucarryacamelbackwaterpouch: No. Bought water bottles along the way. Usually just kept buying more, rarely re-used., whatitemsdidyounotneed: Didn't bring much that I didn't need. Abandoned clothing in hotel rooms along the way as they got worn out or I found something I liked better to replace them. Abandoned books. Before hand I looked hard at bringing a camp stove and some other items. Stuck with the "less is more" and Fred's Guide to the Real World maxim "More money, less stuff." Worked out fine., blogorwebsitenameifyouhaveone: Hi Andy from Mark itinerantwitness, didyouloseawaterbottle: No, explainyouropinionsonwaterbottles: Explained above. The bottles that are sold for packaged water are technological marvels. Cheap, tough, light, disposable, multiple sizes, and seal completely. Why carry an albatross around your neck with one of these super bottles and constantly be making room in your backpack for them?, doyoucarryandumbrella: Yes, wheelsornowheelsbag: no wheels, howmanybagsdidyoucary: 1 small travelpack and 1 or 2 daypacks, linktophotosofyourbag.: http://www.eaglecreek.com/bags_luggage/adventure_travel_packs/Voyage-65L-10051/ http://www.itinerantwitness.com/eagle-creek-subcontinental-journey-travelpack , doyoucarryarainponcho: I bought the cheap pirated backpacking shells in the Himalaya for about 15 dollars. Supposed to be breathable nylon with a name brand on the front. Seems to work fine. Zippers keep breaking off and it is tearing under the arms: You get what you pay for! hahaha. Re: umbrella. I'd always look for those really compact five dollar umbrellas in the market. Found them more often than I thought I would. , doyoucarrryacomputerexplainhowyoucarry: Yes, an Averatec 1050. 10.5 inch screen, 3.5 pounds. Worked just fine. Packed it in a 5mm neoprene pouch I had a cobbler sew in Vancouver. Wrapped it in a plastic bag I acquired along the way, then slid it in the pouch. Then slide the pouch along the back panel of the daypack. Always insisted I handle it myself, kept it with me when traveling (didn't put in baggage stow). Would leave it locked in the bag in the hotel room often, rarely carried it when I wasn't traveling. Figured if I keep a low profile and don't show the computer outside the hotel room, then no one knows it is there. That was the best security., didyoubreakacameraorlose: My camera lasted the whole trip. A Canon Elph Powershot SD 400. I dropped it more than once, including on a rock in the Himalaya. It made a dent in the case but didn't hurt it. I usually kept it in a small waist pouch inside of a small camera pouch. It died inexplicably 4 months after i got back after owning it for several years. I now have a Canon Powershot SD870 IS Digital Elph., averagepriceofroomsyoulivedin: Anywhere from fifty cents to twenty dollars, whydoyouloveyourbag: No bigger than I need, secure, relatively light, can stow on board many vehicles in passenger cabin (although marginally too big to carry on plane), simple design, not loaded with gimmicks and extras on the outside. Doesn't get caught on things. Can prepare for check-in in seconds. Like the rugged zippers. Simple shoulder strap system. The right dimensions to wear on the back:not too tall or wide or deep on the back. Like the travelpack style for openings: would much rather load like a suitcase with the big zipping sidepanel than try to top-load like an internal-frame backpack. Much easier to load sensibly and find items., howdoyourepairabagwhentraveling: Generally find a tailor or cobbler for a cheap repair., doesapersonneedhikingboots: No way! Wear running shoes or sandals, even in the mountains. If your pack is light enough, you shouldn't need hiking boots, and wearing heavy shoes is tiring. See the Ray Way, above., explainhowyoumanageguidebooks: The one thing I carry too much of is books. I like to have them around. They weigh much more than my computer. If I wanted to lighten my pack, I would dump the books. I found that when I was traveling I didn't need to carry many guidebooks if I stayed in one country. Although I had two different brands in my pack in India (Lonely Planet India and Rough Guides South India), I found I only used one generally. So pick one brand and go with it and take whatever shortcomings it has. In Asia it always makes sense to have Southeast Asia on a Shoestring. This way you can plan where you are going next wherever you are and get an idea of where you want to go and why. I usually would put off buying the detailed guidebook for the next country until just before I left the current country for the next. I would wait until I was in the capital city where i was departing and find a good bookstore or check the hotel or tourist area where i was. You can abandon the previous country's guidebook. I hate to give them up because I have used them to look up where I was for my blog or for information for people. I kept carrying Lonely Planet India when I went on to other countries but I could have mailed it cheaply from India because they have a special cheap postal rate for books. I did send back some other books from India using this service. If you are buying pirated copies of books to read it does not feel so bad to abandon them cause you didn't pay much for them. They become pretty disposable., doyouclimbmountains: Yes, I went trekking in the Himalayas. I did not do the serious mountain climbing stuff. That's a whole other experience. If it is serious snow-capped mountain climbing, then you need to bring your equipment or know that you can rent from a reputable outfit in your destination. Summer trekking is much easier, often the outfit will provide tents, horses, cooking equipment, and even porters to carry stuff. Often you only need to carry your daypack with raincoat and snacks for the day., doyoulikeallthelittlepocketsinsidethebag: No. And luckily my pack doesn't have any. I use stuff sacks of various sizes that I get at camping stores to organize my stuff. I am also a big believer in freezer-grad 'ziploc' bags. Instantly organizes your stuff. Put bags inside of bags. I also acquire plastic laundry bags as I travel to fold and store my clothes in., didyougetyourbagslashedwithrazor: Never happened. Heard of people getting their passports stolen from their bags on a train in India but I don't know the details., wouldalargedufflebagworkgoodenough: A duffle bag would work. But I do like the rigid back to the travelpack. A duffle bag can be a little bit too loose. And I need shoulder straps., doyoulockyourbag: Yes, explainbagsecurity: I explained some above under "Was you robbed?". Basically: Default is to lock bag and then lock bag to something. I would do this in my room when I left for the day on many days. Then I would lock my room. If my room was lockable with a padlock then I would feel it was more secure than if I locked the room with a room key, where hotel staff could get in and out. If this were the case, I would put all my valuables in the travelpack and lock the pack and then lock the pack to a piece of furniture. I used small and medium sized locks with keys to lock the zippers and the cables and chains. I brought a thin travel security cable and I acquired essentially a "dog chain" sized chain. My pack did not have a security cable so I would lock the zippers with a small lock and would have a link in the chain or the security cable loop looped into the lock. I would lock all of my bags into the same chain and loop the chain around something heavy. Sometimes it is hard to find a place to chain your bags to in a room., doyouknowofanyonewhohadthebagstolenexplainwhathappened.: I don't know any first-hand stories in detail. Didn't hear much of that happening. I felt my stuff was pretty safe in India, Thailand, and even the Philippines., whatfeaturedoyoudreamofonabackpack: Some way to have wheels that do not take up a lot of space.