REI Co-op Trail 25

“I think Cotopaxi bags are pretty unstructured. They should actually be very comfortable with just a few things in them but you might hate it if your pack is heavier. I was struck by how light my pack is with mostly clothes, vs. a laptop and tech stuff, recently. So that's something to think about. A lot of the time, I kind of like the bigger version of any given pack if it has good compression straps etc. Nobody's making me fill it and the versatility is nice. You could check the dimensions vs. the published dimensions for a couple airlines. I don't really see myself owning one of these. I don't want a wearable suitcase, I want my backpack to be a backpack. So panel loader, a little more organization, nice suspension, as opposed to a clamshell. This is totally a matter of your preferences though. Unless you're flying on a really picky airline, an outdoors pack that's not too long for their carry on requirements would be my pick. You don't have to fill it all the way. One of the other posters here loves recommending the Mystery Ranch Scree 32. I traveled with my 2DAP recently (short trip though) and liked it. The Coulee bags look interesting. The REI Trail and Ruckpack bags look interesting - just so long as it's a long zipper that lets you really open the bag, the smaller sizes don't necessarily have that.”