Island Hopper

I'd vote the Cor Surf bag! The ease in opening it flat to pack and be able to maintain organization without the added weight of packing cubes seems like a huge plus! And I am older and taller than you, so that might affect the presentation, but I think the blue Cor Surf bag is really cute!

If cute is a factor, what's your thoughts on Cotopaxi? At "only" twice the cost of the Cor Surf they're very cute and similar. But... my wife has that same REI Ruckpack (I assume it's the female version you have) in that same color and she loves it. She has that for her bigger travel bag, and the Ru

The Island Hopper from COR Surf checks all your boxes. I think they had some colors on sale last weekend. Picked up the 28L for my wife in pink.

COR Surf Island Hopper 2.0 is pretty much the Cotopaxi Allpa but understated and way cheaper (even more so with frequently available discount codes, search online). Order in sleek but not too shiny black. 34L but consider the 28L, which for me is a perfect size.

If you don’t like cotopaxi colors, you may want to look into COR Surf Island Hopper 2.0, there is a 28L and a 34L version. It’s basically the same bag but in black.

Late to this, but i'm between the ruckpack 30 and cor surf 28 as a travel personal item, hows the rei? I'm mainly on the fence about the opening vs the clamshell on the cor surf, but i love the style

I had a rec recently for a COR surf island hopper. Very affordable. I haven’t road tested mine yet but it seems like it’s going to work well. The original model comes in various colors while the 2.0 is only in black.

Tortuga, Aer, COR Surf Island Hopper or the Patagonia Black Hole are all nice looking, high quality travel backpacks