Personal item ???

Are you able to use the pacsafe tote as a crossbody or easily over your shoulder while in transit? If so, I would use that for my personal item and just stuff my purse and the camera in its purse down into it while boarding/in transit. You can always pack the empty backpack into your rolling carry on to use daily during your trip. I'm in the camp of use what you have unless it doesn't work. I have two brand new Civita day packs still in the bags, one unused. Hubby used his in Switzerland and that was it. jmo

Thanks Nance. I sewed a trolley strap onto the PacSafe tote that has worked great. You confirmed what I thought -- use what I have and I know works. I'd rather spend the money in Italy.

My head is spinning at the number of containers you are taking:

• Pac Safe tote
• cross body purse
• neck wallet (is this a substitute for a money belt?)
• backpack
• small lightweight purse for camera

That’s a lot of weight and bulk. You are taking multiple specialized items instead of one item that works for all circumstances.

Pick one cross body purse or backpack. If you want to be efficient then use your backpack as your personal item and put your purse in it. The purse needs to be big enough to handle the camera or it’s useless. So the smaller crossbody is out.

In short:

• abandon the cross body purse because it’s too small to take your day gear.
• abandon the PacSafe tote because it is too big to use during the day. The only time you are using it is in transit.

The weight of a larger crossbody purse with camera kills my neck so that's a no. I tried that combination in Hawaii and was in agony. The packable backpack weighs ounces and will hold camera, guidebook, sweater if needed, water bottle (I'm an Arizonan and go nowhere without water). There may be some places that I won't carry carry the backpack, like church tours, hence the purse for the camera. I hate the idea of digging into a backpack to pull out my camera. The best shots are the unplanned ones which requires quick access to the camera. The small purse is easy for me to carry and gives me ready access to my phone, aspirin, sunglasses, daily money. The neck wallet works better for me than a money belt and has the same security.

Nance confirmed what I thought so I'll stick with what I think will work. And forget the Veloce bag idea. Sorry to waste your time posting this.

Horsewoofie,

I use a DSLR. I do travel along the manner in which you are doing. My best PI is a travelon backpack that I use, however I prefer to use a cross body when I am at my locale and not out for the entire day, otherwise the back pack is easier on my shoulders. The small camera purse and your small personal purse do give you options, as sometimes, particularly in the evening or when going to a museum, I don't want to bring the DSLR. In those cases I just want to grab the purse, which holds my iPod (and money) which I'll use as a backup camera. I have a travelon cross body purse that packs well and I use at locale with camera. My 'financial' purse will fit in it when I'm bringing both, but I find I often leave them on separately. I don't find that the one extra purse for my camera adds much weight, but it does add options. The neck wallet sounds like your money belt system so stick with that. My RS wheelie is in the area of 20-22 lbs. full---I could get it down to 17 lbs, but don't want to do so. My PI is usually 5-6 lbs. Some people would consider this heavy and suggest you remove some of your bags. I like to pack for convenience. As far as the shoulder veloce goes, isn't that the same size as the backpack...so that might be redundant? So I don't think your have too many bags. Some people pack extra shoes or clothes, you can pack extra bags. This being said, I seem to perfect my system each time I travel, and I do like buying bags...

Thanks Wray. Sound like we think similarly. I plan to buy souvenirs, so on the flight home I can expend the carryon and check it. Then I can carry on the tote and and backpack.

I think I have my packing list narrowed down. But between now and May I have plenty of time to change my mind and do several test packs. It’s a challenge not to overpack. Advantage this time is that I have to guide my sister-in-law which makes me think (and overthink) what i’m doing so I can help her. She’s getting the light packing idea and asked Santa for RS luggage.

We recently spent a week in Paris and traveled on Norwegian, which has pretty strict carryon weight/dimension limits. I stressed over this a bit, finally deciding on the RS rolling bag as my carryon and my Veloce as the personal item. I was gambling a bit, as the Veloce is slightly bigger than Norwegian’s L x W x H limits, but decided to give it a shot.

Leaving from LAX, the agent didn’t even look at our personal items. I decided to carry it as a shoulder bag rather than by its straps, on the chance that it looked more “acceptable”. (This 007 type stuff was pretty unnecessary in retrospect, but whatever.). Same deal on the return flight from deGaulle, though both of our rolling carryons were weighed but not put in the sizer on both flights.

This was my first long trip with the Veloce, and it was a champ. It’s small enough to not be too bulky when carrying all over the place, and expands if needed. I carried it all week comfortably around Paris and a day trip to Normandy, and it easily accommodated a light to medium load of umbrella, water bottle, coat, snacks, etc.

The Veloce fits comfortably under airline seats with plenty of legroom, and slips over the handle of a rolling bag. I insist on this feature for travel packs, as I don’t like jerry rigging backpack straps.
It’s a little steep in price, but on sale now. Really good bag and perfect if you don’t want to lug around a lot of stuff. (No, I don’t work for RS:))

I don't think you are taking too much IF you really plan on using the little backpack as a day bag. Plenty of people pack Rick's Tote to bring back stuff in, so why not a little backpack instead? I totally understand about not wanting the camera on your back for convenience plus I would just be wary of carrying anything expensive that wasn't on my front where I could see it.
I still use my neck wallet in transit because I don't want my passport getting all bent up in my little crossbody purse which is always quite full, plus I like my debit and cc to be extra secure while I am fooling with other bags... a just in case I somehow get picked deal.
I don't carry another bag during the day but if I wanted to it would be my personal item - an XL Laurel Burch shoulder tote that I actually used to use as a purse during my teaching/foster kitten days. It was great - plastic lined, holding several class sets of papers to be graded, kitten fleeces and baby bottles of formulas, and sometimes even a kitten (I don't suggest that for your trip tehehe). Now it holds my extra pair of shoes plus all of my electronic gadgets, etc. I think you are on the right track spending the money on something fun or good to eat while on your trip! Hey - have a limoncello for me while you're at it!

Horsewoofie, I would be remiss if I didn’t point this out. The “I want options” mindset is the same as the “but what if I need it?” mindset. They’re both going to result in overpacking and heavy bags.

You are, of course, free to pack however you choose. It’s your trip! But do go in with eyes wide open on the cost of your preferences.

This Jansport bag is both a cross body and a backpack.

Or this cute convertible backpack purse

I think if I ever buy another bag (unlikely, but possible) it'll be the Veloce shoulder bag. It looks like a great, all-purpose bag.

I did both of my RS tours using the Veloce shoulder bag. It and a rolling suitcase are all I brought for both my Villages of Italy tour and Best of Scandinavia tour. I don't carry a camera but use my IPhone for all my photos. I have found the Veloce bag to be the perfect bag for all my needs. I can expanded it when I need to carry more items and when we do longer hikes using the backpack option. However. most of the time I use it as a shoulder bag. I carry my raincoat and jacket (if needed) along with any books I may need and my USB power brick for and cables for the wife and I to charge up our phones. My small umbrella fits nicely. There are lots of internal pockets and zipped areas. In fact if I have one complaint it has to many places to search when I have placed something I normally don't use in one of the zippered internal pockets.

I hope this helps. It's been a great bag!

Thanks wildcatmcc and Mark G for the reviews. You make the Veloce shoulder bag very tempting.