“Back in Seattle now after five weeks living out of the Tristar along with a medium cafe bag. I can unequivocally say that this is a perfect bag for the way I travel. It turned out to get a bit heavier over the course of the trip–collecting conference materials and a few souvenirs added a couple of pounds to the total weight. So, I would estimate that I was packing close to 20 pounds by the end. I ended up stashing the backpack straps for the last few days and just using the Absolute shoulder strap since I was in and out of busses, metro, and trains for those days and found it easier not to get it on and off my back repetitively.
The bag swallows up a remarkable amount of stuff, as attested by my packing list earlier in this thread. It looks neat enough with the backpack straps stowed to blend in when staying at a business hotel but is compact enough to be convenient to live out of in tiny European B and B rooms, too. Being tidy and compact had some other advantages, too. My husband and I were staying at one small hotel and wanted to stash our bags for a few hours after checkout. The owner was just explaining to another couple why they didn’t have room for bag storage when we came down to ask for the same favor. Looking at our Tristars, he said it would be no problem. Sweet…”
– Posted by flitcraft in the TOM BIHN Forums.
