What’s in My Backpack?

I am currently traveling around Italy and having an amazing time! 🙂 I’m always interested in what people pack for trips because it gives me ideas for things I would typically forget, and it helps me figure out what I actually need since I tend to over pack. I did get some products from my 10 Essential Travel Accessories post that helped my pack my suitcase (the eBags packing cubes are AMAZING and I don’t know how I’ve never used them before), and I thought I would do a post on what I take in my backpack to carry on for flights and when I’m out sightseeing, so hopefully it will help other people pack. Just a head’s up, I mostly pack photography gear. No surprise there 😉

Fjallraven backpack

Yes, that is a Viking ship keychain from Sweden on my backpack 😉 

Ever wonder why my blog is named Philly with a Fjallraven? Because I take my Fjallraven backpack EVERYWHERE. I’ve featured it in a few posts already (you can read the story behind my Fjallraven here), and it’s in my photo on the sidebar because I love it so much. It looks small, but you can fit a surprising amount inside! And it’s ergonomically designed, so it isn’t uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time. Amazon carries them now in all different colors and you can find them here.

Cameras, film, and batteries

I packed three different types of cameras, four rolls of film, two packs of Instax film, and an extra battery for my digital camera. Yep, that’s a lot of stuff. I’m used to carrying around all my gear so it doesn’t bother me, and I probably won’t carry all three cameras around when I’m out sightseeing. But I just couldn’t leave them all at home! 🙂

Chargers and power bank

I have chargers for my digital camera, phone, laptop, and iPod, and I also have a Necktek power bank in case my phone or camera dies when I’m out sightseeing (which has happened on more than one occasion). The Necktek power bank is a little heavier than I was expecting, but it works great! I also found this leather cord holder than keeps everything organized and rolls up to save space. I can’t remember where I originally got this one, but you can find a black leather one here and a light pink one here.

Dell laptop

I desperately needed to upgrade my laptop a few months ago and I prefer PCs to Macs, so I got a Dell XPS 13.3 inch during a Black Friday sale and I LOVE it. It doesn’t have much storage space, which I need for all my photos, so I do have some external hard drives, but other than that it’s perfect for me! It’s light and thin, it’s very fast, and the battery life is incredible. I went from having 5 minutes of battery life on my old laptop (no joke) to 9+ hours of battery life. If you’re a PC person looking for a new laptop, I highly suggest getting the Dell XPS.

Books

Shout out to used book stores for cheap books!

I am a book nerd, and like I said on my About Me page, I love old, classic books. It can take me a while to get used to the language of older books so it can sometimes take me a long time to finish them (I recently finished Middlemarch, and you don’t even want to know how long that took), so I like to use vacations to get a lot of reading done. The long flights to and from Europe and all the train rides around Italy are perfect for getting some reading done!

Water bottle

The only thing with my Fjallraven that I’m not a big fan of is the small water bottle pockets. Thankfully, I found this water bottle at Walmart that fits perfectly! (Amazon also carries the same Manna Water Bottles if you’re interested). With the liquid rules at airports, I always keep my water bottle empty and then fill it up when I’m past security.

I’ll also usually have a granola bar or two for hunger emergencies, and I always have gum to chew for flying. I hope this post helped with packing for your next trip! If you’ll be traveling soon, comment below with where you’re going! 🙂 I’ll have photos from Italy up when I get back!