Meet Bruce: Arc'teryx Altra 62

They say go big or go home...

Well they say that in places like sports stadiums and monster truck rallies. When it comes to backpacking, "go big or go home" is rather frowned upon.

I get the vague impression people think you have some sort of clothing obsession and a sever inability to downsize.

In anycase go big is what I did with my backpack. While not the biggest my Arc'teryx Altra 62, better known as Bruce the Bag. I bought this bag in the late summer/early fall of 2012, though the exact date escapes me now.

Bruce lounging on the floor of my bedroom.

When I purchased the bag, I had no idea what I was really getting into. All I knew is I wanted a female oriented back pack, but I didn't know what size I would need. I didn't know what brands, or models there were, and what features were important. All I knew was I was going to be living out of it for 3 months and that seemed like a very long time. So off we went to the MEC to ask some people who knew things.

Now, the lady who helped me was a mix of usefulness. Perhaps she was having some sort of internal conflict of some kind but I found I had to push her for answers to my questions. It was my mother who ended up being the most help. I don't know what it was, but she was able to ask all the right questions. How will this endure? How much can it fit? How is this suited for Europe travel? and most important - How does it fit? Again and again she asked that.

I have a bad back, it runs in the family so I wanted a bag that would help and not do any damage. I tried on two bags prior, one MEC female bag and one Unisex bag. The Unisex was a flop right off the bat. It didn't settle right on me and with added weight I knew it would lead to some troubles along the line. Not only that but it was 70 +10 liters. The other female one didn't suit either, though I can't recall why. I just remember trying on Bruce. It fit like a glove. snug where it should be and the weight evenly dispersed across my back.

Once I hit the road traveling I was initially nervous about carrying  it around but I had packed lightly. I Germany, it made it easy to distinguish my bag from everyone else. (It is very hard to miss that color of green in a pile of bags) Once I got to Scotland, it was even better. Everyone seemed to travel with backpacks over there! But my Bruce still stood out. When I settled in FW and started to do a bit more camping like trips, it was really beneficial to have it along. I never over filled it and when there was a bit too much stuff, or someone didn't have enough room, there was always Bruce.

I may, one day, get a down sizable bag, for shorter excursions that involve mucho plane travel, but for now there's going to be Bruce.

I love my bag. the perfect size, weight and colour. It was pricy, 400 + dollars but completely worth it in the long run.

Woah! I'm Back!

Did I ever change my mind. Wordpress is nice but everything is so streamlined on my Blogger account.

So, back to my travel blog. I did some wacky stuff since we last spoke/spake internet. Firstly, I traveled for 3 months in Europe, Scotland, Germany and the Czech Republic to be particular. Was that ever an eye opener. Travel did so much good for me and now I'm hooked! So, I'm going to restart this blog, give it a face lift and start posting again.

It will be weekly for now but if I can manage it will be  twice weekly if I can.

So, be prepared, at the end of the week I will be posting a proper post! Article and the whole works.