How a sweltering Euro trip and a friend called Alex created a whole new way to travel
We’ve all heard the term “backpacking” right? Well our founder Jason was no exception and when packing for his 2017 European escapade, the luggage choice seemed obvious.
“Seems like whenever I saw pictures of people travelling, they always seemed to have a large backpack.
Plus, that’s what the travel forums are recommending.”
But what do travel forums know anyway?
Yeah, seems like a large backpack would be the way to go. But thankfully Jason’s friend Alex had a better idea and offered probably the most important travel advice Jason would ever hear.
Not only had Alex provided him with the ultimate travel hack, but he had just laid the seed for a whole lot more.
You don’t want to go with a huge backpack. You’re always going to have to pay the checked baggage fee and you’re always going to have to wait in line in the baggage claim. So what you want to do is downsize to 2 smaller backpacks. One you can store above you on the plane, and the other you can store beneath the seat, like this:
This way, you can still carry as much as the larger backpack, but you can avoid fees and lines, and have more portable carrying options.
Alex couldn’t have been more right
We jump to one scorching summer - 2017 broke many a record – and Jason is in eternal gratitude to his friend. While all the other suckers are lugging round a small coffin through cobbled streets and 100-degree heat, his friend’s travel hack is more than proving its worth. With no bag fees, no waiting in baggage claim and a smaller backpack in tow for day excursions, Jason found himself laughing all the way to the hills. Literally.
Ok, Alex was almost right
Because luggage can still be a drag. And despite Jason being in pretty decent shape, when standing in a customs line, heaving a massive backpack forward every thirty seconds became very, very annoying.
Similarly, such a hefty backpack and a mile walk to Jason’s Rome hotel was enough to make him dripping with sweat by the time he reached the front door. Another thing you don’t really consider until it happens.
And then there are the real curveballs. Like when Jason was accidently dropped off at the wrong terminal. A speedy mile long walk through a crowded airport put all kinds of stresses on Jason’s back and shoulders.
There was only one answer to these problems:
Rolling luggage.
A new system is born
So when he got home, the vision of the ideal travel bag started to reveal itself.
“I wanted to create a travel bag system that was even better.
I wanted a lot more versatility in how the bags were used and most importantly, I wanted the bags to be able to roll, whilst still maintaining the ability to be worn as a backpack.”
Here lay the blueprint for Hypath’s magic. With two bags, as one unified and versatile system, it was clear that this was the way serious travel should be done.
