I Left for 3 Days... and Tested an Entirely New Travel Backpack And Setup

From a new backpack setup to smaller gear changes I honestly didn’t expect to matter this much, here’s everything I packed for my short trip to Plovdiv and why some of these products are probably staying in my setup long term.

Author

Johannes GearUpYourLife
May 13, 2026

Hey, Johannes from GearUpYourLife here...

And today I wanted to take you along and show you exactly what I packed for my short 3-day city trip back to Plovdiv… which is actually considered the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe, just an quick Fun Fact.

And after the last newsletter where I talked about turning my room into a proper workspace setup, I first got the message that my order for another closet and my desk got delayed until the 14th of May…

And directly after that, I also got the notification that on Monday, the 12th of May, the electricity in the area would be shut off for maintenance work on the power lines.

So at that point, I honestly just decided to move the whole project to next weekend instead — and use the opportunity to spend 3 days in Plovdiv while testing some new gear, setups, and travel systems along the way.

So with that out of the way ,here’s everything I packed for this trip and why.

🎒 Backpack Setup

The backpack I used for this trip is the Tomtoc Navigator T66 Liteway in the 28L Ripstop version.

Yeah… definitely a way too long name 😅

But, I mainly used it because around 28 liters — or realistically more like 25-ish — is just a really good sweet spot for a 2–3 day trip.

It also worked surprisingly well as a daypack while walking around Plovdiv itself, has its own laptop compartment, can be compressed down with the straps, has genuinely solid water bottle pockets, and overall just feels really good for the price.

And because I’m writing this on Tuesday, my last day here, I can absolutely already say I’d genuinely recommend it.

Attached to the backpack, like most of the time, I also had my NanoBag clipped on with a small Zelin carabiner, mainly because it’s cheap, lightweight, and just works.

And to be honest, the NanoBag is kind of the same story.
Especially when I don’t bring a foldable daypack, I find it even more useful because if you randomly stop somewhere or buy something small, you always have extra space with you without even noticing it.

And yes, I also had the small JBL Clip 5 attached to the outside for some music in the Airbnb.
Definitely not an essential… but still nice to have 😅

📦 Packing & Organization

For organization, I packed two Thule packing cubes… one Medium and one Small.

Mainly because the compression on them is actually noticeable, and because of that, I honestly think they’re still some of the best packing cubes on the market.

I also brought one larger packing cube from Level8 simply because the size worked perfectly for this trip.
That said, I still think the Thule ones are overall the better option.

Then I also packed the smaller clear toiletry bag from Tripped again, which sat in the front compartment and basically carried all the essentials.

And lastly, I also had the Tomtoc tech pouch with me and squeezed in a foldable rain jacket as well because it was supposed to rain a bit during the evenings.

👕 Clothing

For clothing, I kept things pretty standard this time.

I packed:

  • 3 pairs of underwear

  • 3 pairs of socks

Nothing fancy like merino wool underwear or anything like that 😅

Then I brought:

And in the second packing cube:
just 2 pairs of shorts.

That was basically it.

And of course, the foldable rain jacket again, this time again from Outdoor Research.

🔋 Tech

For tech, I actually brought less than usual this time.

I had the Satechi On-The-Go 7-in-1 mainly because I needed SD card support for filming.

Then my Anker wall charger setup with:

I also brought the MOFT iPhone stand, which can also work as a tripod.

But honestly, I mostly use it for watching Netflix or YouTube, although it’s also surprisingly useful when typing on your phone with a keyboard.

Then for my camera setup:
I only brought my Sony ZV-E10, the small tripod for it, and a portable light.

And I also had this INIU 100W 25,000mAh powerbank with me, but sadly it’s not visible in the picture 😅

🧴 Toiletries

Again, super simple.

I used the clear toiletry bag from the Tripped set with:

And to be honest… for 3 days, that was already more than enough.

🧩 Extras

Probably my favorite category because this is usually where things get interesting 😅

Attached to my keys, I again had the small Pillar Go case with some basic medication.

But this time I also brought a small metal pill organizer for 7 days.
I removed 3 of the sections because I’m currently a bit sick and also because I’ve taken magnesium in the evenings for years anyway because of migraines.

(Not saying it magically fixes everything of course 😂)

Then I also had:

And lastly, I also packed a sink stopper and a portable clothesline.

Partly because I still had space left, but also because honestly, it’s always better to have the option to quickly wash clothes than not having it when you need it.

One small mistake though:
I really should have brought my AeroPress and my foldable kettle 😅

Because the kettle in the Airbnb honestly looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in about a year.

So guys, I hope you enjoyed this little “what I pack” breakdown 😅

At this point it’s honestly slowly turning into a mini-series already… I think this is actually the 4th edition now, and the response to these has genuinely been incredible so far, so first of all… thank you.

And if you now want to see even more about the backpack itself, but this time in the bigger 40 liter version that I tested the month before, definitely check out the full review here:

I genuinely think a lot of you could really enjoy that one and maybe even find it useful, because honestly… it’s one of the best value travel products I’ve tested in quite a while.

So definitely check that one out 👀

And with that ,I’ll see you again already the day after tomorrow, where I want to talk about a completely different topic.

But until then…

Safe travels, guys ✈️
Johannes

P.S. If you haven’t seen it yet, definitely check out the new video about my favorite travel tech essentials where I basically only talk about the gadgets I genuinely use and enjoy traveling with 👀