It started with a disagreement. A good one.
Back in 2018 I was planning a 20-day trip through Asia. My boyfriend at the time wanted to travel light. No checked bags. Just what fits on the plane with us. I looked at him like he’d suggested we ride bicycles across the Pacific Ocean. I am a proud overpacker. I want options. I live for the hypothetical need for 348 pairs of cotton briefs or the third pair of shoes for “just in case it rains but not too hard.”
I didn’t want to pare down. I certainly didn’t want packing cubes. Those little plastic prisons for socks.
We compromised. One bag. The Osprey Farpoint 40.
I thought it was a phase. It wasn’t. It changed everything.
Not a bag. A lifestyle.
You can buy the best suitcase money can buy. There are totes that feel like hugging a cloud. But the Farpoint doesn’t care about your tote-able. It cares about motion. From hotel to hostel to airport terminal without dropping a shoulder socket.
Shanghai. Tokyo. Osaka. Kyoto. Busan. Seoul. Hong Kong.
Eight cities in three weeks. Flights. Trains. Cramped hostels. Spacious apartments.
I have owned this bag since 2018. It has lived in three different homes. I have sat on subway floors with it balanced on my chest like a shield against the elements. I have stuffed it into the trunk of cars that were already too full. I threw it down stairs. I used it as a helmet in sudden summer thunderstorms.
It is still working.
It is absurdly spacious. 40 liters. It sounds small until you try to zip it. It holds nearly enough stuff to break your back. And yet I have never checked it. The compression straps tighten the silhouette so it slides overhead bins or onto train racks with zero fuss. It meets carry-on specs. Usually.
If you push the envelope. Maybe a little bit.
The Farpoint makes carrying 40 pounds feel like a hobby.
The pockets are confusing in the best way.
- Two mesh pockets on the front. I shove wet shoes here. Or bottles that leak.
- A small external pocket. Passport. Keys. The stuff you grab while screaming for a taxi.
- The main body has two chambers.
- One has a sleeve for laptops. E-readers. Tablets. Whatever fragile screen you carry around.
- The large chamber has internal straps. They compress your clothes until you resemble a compressed file format. Zipper still closes. By magic.
On the other side of the bag a mesh pocket runs the whole length. I put underwear here. Toiletries. The stuff you need now. Not tomorrow.
Wearing it makes you look like a turtle. A very organized turtle. You cannot walk fast when you are wearing 40 pounds of gear on your spine. Or so you think.
The straps save you. Padded shoulders. Hip belt. Chest clip. There is a whistle on the chest strap. I use it to annoy friends at music festivals. Not for emergencies. Though if I needed to hike away from danger it might work.
I am 5’1″. The frame feels too big. I wobble sometimes. The center of gravity pulls me forward. But the bag has a hidden compartment where you can hide all the straps. It becomes a duffel bag. You lift it. You walk. No more turtle. Just luggage.
The zippers are the real marvel. I pack too much. Everyone tells me I pack too much. I don’t believe them. The zippers glide. Even when stuffed to bursting. Even in humidity. Even after eight years. They don’t snap. They don’t stick. They are lockable too. Which matters if you are leaving your bag on a train overnight.
Osprey tweaked it since 2018.
The new version is lighter. Less padded. The hip belt is shorter. The laptop sleeve faces up now instead of into the bag. Diminutive changes. You probably won’t notice them until you buy it. And even then. It feels like the same bag.
There is a women’s model. The Fairview. Smaller frame. Curved for hips. It’s nice. But not if you have a large chest. Not if you carry a lot. For me it hurts after hour two. I stick with the unisex Farpoint. They both attach to the Farpoint Daypack. Stacking them is possible. I only do this when I have no choice.
Colors? Boring. Bright yellow. Neon green. Things that look like construction gear. I wouldn’t care. If you like how it functions you will wear it in mud-color if you have to.
You can argue about style. You can argue about aesthetics. I have an empty trunk and a comfortable back. That’s all the review you need.
