Deciding on one bag to carry all my belongings in for a year is a bit of a daunting challenge. I’ve done some research previously, but have been actively obsessing about the question for the last 48 hours.

I need a light, low-key, durable bag I can wear on back that will fit within airline carry-on restrictions. The internet tells me I need something with a waist strap as well.

The single most common packing mantra I’ve seen is:

Take half as much stuff and twice as much money as you think you need.

With that in mind, I’ll focus on the “stuff” side of things because I don’t have any great (legal) ideas for doubling my money in a hurry.

If you spend much time reading travel blogs and forums, it quickly becomes obvious that many people obsess over the question of what bag to use on their ’round-the-world trip. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to question, either. This is what my search is currently looking like:

My standard unit of comparison is this: the brown paper grocery bag. Using handy pieces of 8½ x 11 notebook paper to measure it, I have determined it to be roughly 12 x 17 x 7 inches. That means about 1500 cubic inches of space.

I have narrowed my pack selection process down to three back-packular choices:

The Eagle Creek Voyage 65L

This one seems a bit like standard backpacker faire. Certainly functional with it’s pockets and removable day pack. Possibly a bit too “Hey! I’m a tourist!” for my likes. (Says the screamingly-blonde haired boy heading to South America. My bag might not be the first thing to give me away.)

• 2600 Cubic Inches (3800 if you include the day pack)
• 14 x 23 x 9 in
• 1.7 Grocery Bags of Space
• 2.5 Grocery Bags of Space including the day pack

The MEI Voyageur

The MEI Voyageur not only has an extra “u” in it’s name, but it comes very highly recommended all over the internet. Simple, utilitarian, strangely spelled, and not flashy. A good start. Apparently this is the “original” backpacker’s backpack and is largely un-changed since 1978. The author of OneBag.com, who obviously knows more about this than me, lists it as his weapon of choice.

• 3,000 Cubic Inches (probably more if over-stuffed)
• 14 x 22 x 9 in
• 2 Grocery Bags of Space
• Moderately dorky?

The Blackhawk 3-Day Assault Pack

Interesting. I came to this pack through an article on Brave New Traveler. This is apparently one dude’s perfect pack and is designed for a military audience. Hella durable, certainly low key and simple, though not as big as the previous two. Most importantly, the YKK zippers feature “silent pulls” so I will be able to noiselessly extract my bowie knife from my pack as I am stalking my prey without tipping off their impending slaughter.

• 13 x 20 x 6 in
• 2, 240 Cubic Inches (smallest of the three)
• 1.5 Grocery Bags of Space

The consideration really comes down to total available space for me. Could I really fit all that I need in 1.5 grocery bags of assault-ready space? Perhaps I could augment the Assault Pack with an extra small bag, though I don’t want to exceed carry-on limits and get in to checking bags that will get lost. The Voyageur probably has enough space to keep a day pack inside of it.

I’ve started working on a packing list and will probably need to finish it before I can make a decision.

Stay tuned to learn which bag will be your next (expatriate) American Idol!

It seems that my departure date has been pushed back.

This, however, is for a good reason. My brother is getting married and I’m the best man.

So, instead of leaving in early April, I’m now leaving in early June. There are some benefits to this:

• First and foremost, I’ll be at my brother’s wedding fulfilling my best-manial tasks.
• I won’t have to spend $1,000 + dollars for a flight back for the wedding if I kept my original departure date.
• I won’t have to actually fly back to the States a mere two months in to my trip. This is not in the plan, nor does heading back home mere months after being gone hold any appeal for me.
• I’ll have actually saved up more money for the trip by working an extra two months.

I seemed so sure of myself.

In my previous post, I had decided on starting in Lima, but now I’m not sure. I got an email back from my friend Jim who lives in Mexico City who said I’d be welcome to stay there with him.

Perhaps it makes sense to start off in Latin America with another gringo who knows the ropes? I could have a transition time into Spanish.

Either way, I’d better figure it out. Plane ticket prices are surprisingly reasonable to both Lima and Mexico City from Chicago. Not sure how long they’ll stay that way. I’ll keep you posted.

In other travel-planning news, I’m going to go look for a pack this week. My self-imposed marching orders are small, small, small.

I’m also trying to decide if I want to bring my laptop with me. I’d certainly get plenty of use out of it. It’d also certainly be a great thing for someone to steal. It will also add five pounds to my pack and be something to constantly worry about.  I wonder if it could also end up being a comfort blanket from home that would detract from some sort of perceived “authenticity” of the trip or could preclude me from going out and meeting people.

Time will tell, people!

I’m finally starting to write in my travel blog! Though the blog isn’t public yet, I feel that I’ve actually got something specific to say now so I want to start making some entries to provide a little background for you, dear reader.

I’ve begun planning my trip in earnest and I’m excited to have picked my first destination: Lima, Peru; population: 8 million.

This was chosen for no particular reason other than that I know I want to start my world travels in South America and Spanish is spoken in Lima. I also needed to quit thinking about it so much and just pick something! I was excited to talk with my friend Emily who spent 6 months living there and she’s been quite helpful and inspirational in making me feel comfortable about Lima.

Now that I know where I’m starting, I can begin to actually start planning some specifics for the first leg of the trip. I spent yesterday evening looking for places to stay, searching Lonely Planet’s Thorntree forum, and finding travel clinics in Indiana that I can get a yellow fever inoculation (important because they won’t let me in to Brazil after being in Peru without one).

I’m considering renting a room or apartment for a month in Lima and making it my base of operations. This is appealing to me as a way to get a better sense of what it’s like to actually live in Lima rather than staying in a hostel. However, a hostel stay is also certainly appealing based on the proximity it would offer me to other young travelers who could offer recommendations for other places to visit in Peru. I’ve always got the internet or bars to find recommendations, though.

Searching the Peru branch of Craiglist, I found a bunch of apartments in the Miraflores area of Lima. After a bit more reading, though, this area seems to be very “nice,” wealthy, potentially touristy, and having a western feel. These are all things I’m not interested in. According to oh-so-helpful Emily:

miraflores is definitely the rich part of town. so yes, it is also the touristy part of town. i went there a number of times, but it was sort of an indulgence. we would go to get falafel or see an american movie or go to a bar sometimes…but i had a love/hate relationship with it. i don’t think that it’s the “real” lima – or maybe it is a vision of how lima will become, which is kind of depressing and commercialized and westernized.

Emily says she’d live in the neighborhood called Barranco (she describes it as “the artist enclave part of town”) if she went back, which jives with what various random writers on the Thorntree forums had to say:

Barranco is the most beautiful district of Lima for everything: Magic, Bohemian, Romance, and Tradition. Specially among people who love history, arts, literature, bohemian life, romantic places and old Republic buildings. Is has all the opposite virtues Miraflores has right now, there you will see everyday how old beautiful houses just dissapear to give place to boring “modern” deparment buildings…

Barranco is indeed the coolest area to stay in in the Lima metropolis. Beautiful and quiet in day time, pumping at night! Republican architecture, flower parks, a beautiful little plaza with plenty of restaurants. It has more character than busy, ‘western’ Miraflores.

Barranco is the best neighourhood to stay, very relaxed in daytime and pumping at night.

Barranco it is!

Overall, planning for this trip seems like a very daunting task. It’s challenging to balance spending time at work and time with my friends against sitting down and really thinking about the trip. There is so much to consider, coordinate, buy, and learn. I want to focus on learning some Portuguese for my planned travel to Brazil. I’m trying to decide if I want to bother bringing my laptop with me which will probably get stolen eventually. I’m trying to decide if it’s going to be possible to get across the Atlantic on a boat. Where else to go in Peru while I’m there? Where else to go in South America? Where to go around the world?

It’s a lot to think about, but it’s exiting. I’m not going to over-plan it. I’m going to try to do what I can, take the first step on this trip, and release my fate to chance, circumstance, and a little bit of my own guidance.