The three honest ways to pack two weeks
1. One 40L pack and a wash on day six
This is the method we would use for most two-week trips in a temperate climate, and it is the whole subject of how to pack for two weeks in a carry-on. Six to seven days of clothing, one laundry cycle, and the Farpoint 40 or any of the packs in our 40L roundup. It is the cheapest option because the bag you already own probably qualifies, and it is the only one of the three that is reliably carry-on on every leg.
2. A carry-on pack plus a detachable daypack
The Osprey Farpoint 55 and Fairview 55 are a 40L main pack with a 15L daypack that zips to the front. Flown together they publish 25 x 13 x 12 in and are not a carry-on anywhere; zipped apart, the main pack is the same clamshell as the Farpoint 40 and the daypack is a personal item that goes under the seat. So you fly it as a carry-on plus a personal item, which most fares include, and you have a day bag at the destination without packing one. For a fortnight that mixes cities and a few days somewhere colder, this is the setup we would pick, and it is why the 55 is the top pick here rather than on the general travel backpacks page.
The trade is weight, 3.9 lb for the Farpoint 55 and 3.8 lb for the Fairview 55, against 3.1 lb for the Farpoint 40 alone, and a combined 55L that you must remember to split before the gate. Our Farpoint 40 vs Farpoint 55 comparison is the full decision.
3. One bigger bag, and a plan for the sizer
The Cotopaxi Allpa 42L and the Peak Design 45L are single packs that add liters, and both publish numbers that put them over the standard 22 x 14 x 9 in box on one dimension: the Allpa at 22 x 14 x 11 in is two inches over on depth, the Peak Design at 22 x 13 x 9.5 in is half an inch over before it expands and two inches over expanded. That does not mean they fail; a soft pack below capacity measures less than its published depth, and US carriers rarely measure. It means you are betting, and the size of the bet is the size of the number. Both reviews, the Allpa 42L and the Peak Design 45L, work through the fit against five carriers each.
The capacity table
Published figures for the five picks, against the standard US box and a 7 kg allowance. The 55s are shown both ways because they are flown both ways.
Published capacity, dimensions and weight of the two-week picks against the 22 x 14 x 9 in carry-on box| Pack | Capacity | Published dimensions | Weight | Against 22 x 14 x 9 in |
|---|
| Osprey Farpoint 40 | 40L | 21 x 15 x 10 in | 3.1 lb | 1 in over on width and depth; carry-on in practice on US majors, check strict carriers |
| Osprey Farpoint 55, combined | 40L + 15L | 25 x 13 x 12 in | 3.9 lb | Not a carry-on; split it into a carry-on plus a personal item |
| Osprey Fairview 55, combined | 40L + 15L | 24.6 x 13 x 11.8 in | 3.8 lb | Not a carry-on combined; same split as the Farpoint 55 |
| Cotopaxi Allpa 42L | 42L | 22 x 14 x 11 in | 3.13 lb | Level on height and width, 2 in over on depth |
| Peak Design Travel Backpack 45L | 35L standard, 45L expanded | 22 x 13 x 9.5 in (11 in expanded) | 4.5 lb | 0.5 in over on depth standard; 2 in over expanded |
Note the weight column. The Allpa 42L is the surprise: 3.13 lb for 42L is level with the Farpoint 40 and lighter than the two 55s, so on a weight-capped carrier it is the cheapest extra capacity here. The Peak Design is the opposite, 4.5 lb before you pack it, which is 29% of a 7 kg allowance and the reason it is the expandable pick rather than the overall one. Which carriers weigh bags is in carry-on weight limits by airline.
Two weeks in Europe
Europe tightens all of this, because the budget carriers’ free bag is an under-seat size and their paid cabin bag is 55 x 40 x 20 cm on Ryanair with a 10 kg limit. None of the bigger packs here fits that box when packed; the Farpoint 40 at 21 x 15 x 10 in does not either, on width or depth. So a two-week European itinerary with a Ryanair or easyJet leg is the strongest case of all for method one: a 35 to 40L pack packed light, and laundry. The pick set for that is best travel backpacks for Europe, and the packing plan is the Europe carry-on packing list.
What makes two weeks feel like one
- Packing cubes, assigned by category. A fortnight of clothes with no system becomes a bag you repack every morning. Four cubes, one of them a compression cube that starts empty and becomes the laundry, is the system; the count and the assignment are in how many packing cubes you need.
- One pair of shoes packed, one worn. Shoes are the worst-shaped thing in the bag and the reason people want 45L. Two pairs total is the rule; how to pack shoes covers the where and how.
- A wash kit sized to the trip, not the bathroom. Two weeks of liquids still has to fit the 3-1-1 bag. The TSA liquids rule does not get bigger because the trip did.
- The heavy layer worn, not packed. A jacket on the plane is a jacket not in the bag, and nothing you wear is weighed or measured.
The mistake to avoid
Buying a 55L or 45L bag because the trip is long, then packing it full on the way out. A full 55L is a checked bag with shoulder straps; it costs a bag fee on both legs, it waits at the carousel, and it is heavy on cobblestones in a way a 40L never is. If you buy bigger, buy it for the return leg and the cold week, and fly out with it two-thirds full. Our guide to what size travel backpack you need makes the case by trip type, and how to pack a travel backpack covers loading a bigger pack so the weight sits where it should.
