The travelling in style dilemma…
The Osprey Sojourn solved a travel dilemma I first encountered in my late thirties – and it has travelled with me ever since. I wanted the freedom of backpacking without looking as though every trip had to involve a hostel and hiking boots. I wanted spontaneous detours and boats up the Mekong, but also fancy dinners and the occasional beautiful hotel. And I definitely didn’t want to carry 17 kilos on my back unless I absolutely had to.
Enter the Osprey Sojourn.
Basically, it’s a roller with an additional ventilated backpack suspension system that you take out when you need it and keep securely hidden when you don’t.
It’s relatively chic. I mean we’re not talking Rimowa chic, but chic enough to get into a posh hotel without raising any eyebrows. The wheels are really sturdy and the dual-tube extended handle controls it well which means most roads, even dirt roads, are no problem for it. But time and again, rolling just isn’t an option. Then you just get out the backpacking system, clip it on and off you go.
Travelling with an Osprey Sojourn means that even after backpacking / wheeling around Vietnam for a month I still looked stylish enough to check in at the Hilton in Bangkok for a stop-over on our way home.
It also means I had no problem getting to the boat that was going to take us up the Mekong to Cambodia via a tiny and uneven boat bridge and then scrambling into the boat, too. Good luck trying that with a wheelie in your hand.
Mine is the 80-litre version, although I rarely fill it completely. I like travelling light, but I’m not particularly interested in proving how little I can survive with. I want room for clothes that work for a fancy dinner as well as sightseeing, a second pair of shoes and whatever finds its way into my luggage along the way. Travelling independently doesn’t have to mean travelling without a few comforts.
Is it perfect? No. It’s not particularly light, and if your idea of travelling involves taxis from airport to hotel and back again, there are certainly more elegant options. But that isn’t how I travel. I need luggage that can cope – and that I can cope with on my own – when the journey becomes slightly less polished than the destination – and that’s exactly why the Sojourn has stayed with me.
So, yes, years and many journeys later, the Osprey Sojourn remains the bag I reach for when the trip calls for a little more adventure.
For more information about the Osprey Sojourn check out their website: https://www.osprey.com/de/vorgestellt/nach-kollektionen-einkaufen/sojourn-serie.
