Beginner one-bag travel kit

The bags

LOVEVOOK 40L Travel Backpack Flight Approved Carry on Backpack,3 Packing (Travel backpack (carry-on size), $43.99): At $43.99 this is the cheapest carry-on sized travel backpack in the catalog, listed at 18 x 14 x 8 inches, as listed by the seller, and it ships with three small packing cubes of its own. One-bag travel lives or dies on whether the backpack alone gets you through a trip, and this is the lowest-cost way to find out if the style works for you before spending more.

TSA Approved Personal Item Backpack Under Seat Carry On Travel Laptop Bag (Personal item, $29.99): This under-seat bag markets itself as sized for a personal item, but the catalog record for this listing does not confirm a measured figure to check against your airline, so treat it as close enough in size to the main backpack above to work best as your second bag for a jacket, cables and snacks rather than extra clothes. It is a basic single-compartment bag, the first thing worth upgrading once you notice you are stuffing it past comfortable.

Packing

BAGAIL 8 Set Packing Cubes Luggage Packing Organizers for Travel (Packing cubes, $16.98): Eight cubes for $16.98 turn one soft backpack into organized compartments the way drawers do in a dresser, which matters more in a backpack than a suitcase since there is no rigid shell keeping things in place. Basic mesh tops, no compression zipper, which is fine for a first kit.

Amazon Basics Roll-Up Travel Compression Storage Bags for Clothes and Towels (Compression bags, $9.96): Twelve roll-up compression bags for $9.96, no vacuum or pump needed, just roll the air out by hand. In a 40-liter backpack this is how you fit a week of clothes instead of four days, which is the single biggest space problem one-bag travel runs into.

NISHEL Travel Toiletry Bag for women (Toiletry bag, $13.99): A $13.99 hanging toiletry bag that clears a bathroom counter in a hostel or a shared rental just as well as it does a hotel. Pack a separate clear quart bag inside it for TSA, since this bag itself is not the TSA-compliant pouch.

At the airport

Puroma 2 Pack TSA Approved Luggage Locks 4 Digit Code Cable Lock Black (TSA lock, $8.98): Two TSA-approved cable locks for $8.98, one for each zipper pull on the backpack's main compartment. A backpack without a checked bag still benefits from a lock at a hostel locker or on a train, not just at the airport.

for AirTag Sticky Holder Pouch, 4 Pack Adhesive Sleeve for AirTag (Tracker mount, $9.99): A $9.99 four-pack mount, not a tracker: it holds an Apple AirTag you already own or add later for $89 for four. One-bag travelers who never let the backpack out of arm's reach can reasonably skip an AirTag entirely and just keep this mount ready for the trip where the bag does leave your sight, like gate-checking a full backpack on a regional flight.

What you can skip

• A rolling carry-on suitcase paired with this backpack: the entire point of one-bag travel is not carrying a second wheeled bag, so if you are buying a suitcase too, use the suitcase kits instead.
• A hardshell packing cube set with a rigid frame: packing cubes exist to be soft and compressible inside a soft backpack, and a rigid cube fights the bag's shape instead of working with it.
• A luggage scale: one-bag travelers are not checking a bag, and a 40-liter backpack rarely gets close to a weight an airline would even bother checking at a gate.
• A second travel backpack as a spare: if this one does not work for your body and trip style, return it and try a different size or brand rather than owning two.

What to upgrade first

1. The personal item bag first, specifically to one with a padded laptop sleeve, if you are traveling with a laptop: the bag here has no dedicated sleeve.
2. The main backpack next, to a name-brand carry-on backpack like Cabinzero, once you know one-bag travel is a style you are sticking with.
3. An actual Apple AirTag for the mount above, once you are checking the backpack at the gate on regional flights instead of carrying it on every leg.