David and I have been through so many backpacks between our travels and working in forestry. We have tried so many combinations to find the best family travel backpack for both adults and kids, and this post is really just to give a breakdown of what we have found to be working for us right now (as parents to three kids, one of which is a baby and two of which have autism and won’t carry their own backpacks for any length of time).
David and I have very similar backpacks – they just differ slightly, mostly by colour. I have a beige version of the bag and David has a forest green one.
The best family travel backpack for carry-on with Ryanair, easyJet etc.
Just to mention, these are the backpacks we are using for travelling on budget airlines like Ryanair and easyJet and we use them because they meet the requirements to go under the seat in front. We will soon be taking a number of long haul flights and I plan to upgrade our cabin bags to something better for family travel on long haul flights, because the measurements can allow for bigger bags.
Why we like these travel backpacks
There are a number of features that I wanted from my backpack looking for when I found these bags:
- The backpack has the functionality to have a portable power bank connected from inside of the backpack, and a cable can connect from the outside of the bag to the device to be charged. This was important to me while travelling with autistic children because they rely on device to regulate.
- There is a laptop section in the bag. We often travel with a laptop because we have business stuff that we have to keep up with and it is just easier on a laptop than trying to do it on a mobile.
- The backpack would meet the hand luggage restrictions of both Ryanair and easyJet. Ryanair’s hand luggage measurements are more strict than easyJet – but the bags are suitable for both. These are the two airlines we fly with most often with our children so their rules are most important for us.
Some other features that we found with the bag that are helpful are: a waterproof section to store documents away from rain, a passport pocket on the back of the bag that isn’t accessible while the backpack is on, a shoe/dirty clothes pouch in the bottom of the bag, straps to tighten the bag and compress it’s size a little and multiple sections and pockets for storing and organising the bag. You can further organise the inside of the bag using a bag organiser. One of the best features that I didn’t even know about when I bought the bags is that they open out completely like a suitcase making them easy to pack/unpack.
The backpack for kids carry on with Ryanair, easyJet etc.
Our favourite family travel backpack for small children travelling with hand luggage is the Deuter backpacks. The style we have is this small blue one with an animal design. This is a great size for toddler-age kids. The size allows for them to have a number of personal items on them, without making the bag too heavy for them to be comfortable carrying it.
We have had this since Travis was a toddler, as it was recommended to us as the best backpacking bag for small children. I really like that it is actually practical, rather than just an open space inside the bag made of cheap fabric that splits and degrades like most backpacks you can buy in high-street stores.
If you’d also like a recommendation for the best changing bag for travel that we have come across so far, you can click here to find it.
Click here to buy the backpacks via my TikTok store. Just to make it clear, I have two TikTok affiliate stores and you could be directed to either one of them: @moustashiio and @themeldrumsworld.