Review: Osprey Fairview and Farpoint Wheels 65

We spent a bit of time deciding what type of luggage to buy while planning our digital nomad adventure. Wheels or no wheels? Straps or no straps? Does it need a hard shell? Cheap or expensive? Here’s a breakdown of our decision-making process, what luggage we decided to go with and how it turned out. I hope this makes your leap into the digital nomad world a little easier.

Best Luggage for Digital Nomads

The first question was whether to get suitcases or backpacks. We were likely to be boarding small boats from the beach, walking along cobbled streets in Europe and possibly climbing flights of stairs in small hotels. But alongside that, wheels are so nice to have. Because sometimes you’re not adventuring in the wilderness. You’re just wheeling it around an airport or down the road to the bus station. Ideally, we wanted something that worked no matter where we were. We’re not trying to be minimalists and only travel with a carry-on. We’re also planning on doing this for a long time so we wanted luggage that would make our travels as comfortable as possible.

The next priority was quality. We were hitting the road full-time, indefinitely so having something that would last was a significant factor. This led us to Osprey. They know their stuff when it comes to packs that can handle the great outdoors. We were going to be more on the well-beaten path than in the backcountry but wanted luggage that was well-made and wouldn’t need to be replaced all the time. The slow travel mindset we adopted applies to what we buy as well.

In the end, we went with the Fairview (for women) and Farpoint (for men) 65L packs from Osprey. Yes, we have matching luggage. Once we knew what we wanted we waited until Black Friday sales and got them at 50% off. Winning.

So what do we think now that we’ve got them and have been using them?

Overall Look and Feel

I love the look of the bags themselves. I think people are equally surprised when we pull out the handle to tow them or whip out the straps to carry them. They don’t look exactly like a suitcase or a backpack. 

The bags are identical except for a little strap green and teal to tell them apart. My one wish was that we were able to actually purchase different colours when we bought them. I’ve seen older versions of this bag in multiple colours so I’m sure there are other options out there in some stores.

My bag did go missing briefly on a flight and I wondered what I would do if I had a replace it. I decided that I hadn’t seen anything else that looked as good or functioned as well. If I had to get a new bag, I would’ve got the exact same one.

Reunited with my bag after it got lost on a flight.

Size and Weight

When our bags were delivered, I was a little concerned. How was I going to pack everything I owned into that one small bag? But now we’re on the road, they seem like the perfect size. When we left they were up around 44 lbs (20kgs) when full and were a little tightly packed. Now we’ve got around 33 lbs each (15 kgs) and they’re easy to manoeuvre or carry.

The bags themselves weigh around 6 lbs (less than 3kgs) which is always important when you’re trying to keep the overall weight down. And the size is 65L which is big enough for us to pack everything we own and survive comfortably on the road.

Durability

The quality is definitely worth it. We’ve dragged them over stone paths, into jungles, up stairs and along boardwalks, not to mention the 30+ flights they’ve been on, and they’re not showing any signs of wear. Yes, paying for quality can be hard on the budget, but not having to replace our bags constantly because they’re falling apart is going to be a saving in the long run.

Compartments and Organisation

To keep the bags light, they are simple. There is one main compartment with a double zipper that runs all the way around and opens like a suitcase. No digging in from the top of the bag trying to find that one item that’s slipped to the bottom. On the inside of the opening, there are two mesh compartments for small bits and pieces. 

There is also one small compartment on the top of the bag. Kieron uses this for his toiletries, and Tania uses it to stash all the items she realises she forgot to pack once the bag is all zipped up. On the outside, there are two mesh pockets which are the perfect size for your flip-flops. Then Tania uses the outside straps to attach her yoga mat to the bag. It’s survived multiple flights this way and fingers are crossed that continues.

As a Backpack 

The packs are comfortable to wear as Osprey actually knows what they’re doing in this department. The straps are padded so they’re not digging in like a cheap backpack. The support works well to evenly distribute the weight across your shoulders and around your hips.

Switching from one function to another only takes a moment. The back panel has two long zippers that lift a flap that conceals all the straps when in suitcase mode. Role up this strip of fabric and you’re ready to go. A speedy transition is helpful when you’re not too sure what you’re going to encounter in a new place.

As a Wheeled Bag 

This is how we’ve mostly used the bags so far. And they’ve been great. There are two small wheels but they have been super durable as we’ve pulled them around seven countries for nine months so far. They’re not the more modern design of four wheels so if you’re towing it a long way, it is going to pull down on your arm. But it’s never been an issue for us.

The only downside to these bags is there is only a single retractable arm, rather than the usual two creating a loop that you have on a suitcase. This can make it a little unwieldy and likely to flip over when towing it. This only really happens if there’s something in way of the bag so we’ve just adapted and are a little more careful where we walk to prevent this from happening. I’m presuming this is a design feature to save on weight or to do with the structure of the backpack. All up, the slight inconvenience is worth it for the dual purpose.

Final review

If you’re looking for new luggage and you want something that works as well being towed along a railway platform as it is being hiked up a cobblestone street, we both can’t recommend the Osprey Fairview and Farpoint enough. We love owning them and would definitely buy them again if we needed new luggage. 

Let us know in the comments below if are you more of a suitcase or a backpack traveller. Or do you keep everything to a minimum and travel with a carry-on only? We’d love to know!