What's in My Bag: Riga City Break (Personal Item Only)

Just before Christmas, I treated myself to a new travel backpack: the wildly popular Osprey Daylite Expandable 26+6 Travel Pack. Although I'd used it for a few weekend trips in the UK, I was finally able to test it out properly on my recent long weekend trip to Riga in Latvia. Read on to find out my thoughts on the bag and what I packed for four days in Riga during late spring.

• Trip length: 4 days.
• Trip type: urban.
• Weather: varied! Mostly sunny — apart from one heavy downpour — and temperatures ranging from 10C to 26C.
• Flights and transport: My flight to Riga with BA included a cabin size bag but I decided to travel with an under-seat, personal item backpack only.
• Main bag: Osprey Daylite Expandable 26+6 Travel Pack.

Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means that if you click through and make a purchase, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only ever recommend products that I use and love — this is particularly important when travelling light and every item must earn its space!

THE BAG: OSPREY DAYLITE 26+6 EXPANDABLE TRAVEL PACK

I had been eyeing up Osprey's Daylite Expandable Travel Pack since the new version was released last year. The bag's main appeal is that it can convert from a 26L backpack that fits under the seat of most aeroplanes into a larger 32L bag, simply by unzipping the compression zip. This makes it perfect both for short trips where you might want to do some holiday shopping and for longer trips when used in its expanded form as a cabin bag.

I usually fly with BA, which means I get a cabin-size bag and a personal item included within my ticket. Plus, as a Silver BA member, I get priority boarding, so I rarely have any issues finding space for my bags. However, since BA announced unpopular changes to its loyalty program earlier this year, it's likely that I'll be taking more short-haul flights with other airlines — and when I do fly with BA I probably won't be able to board early.

Having a bag as flexible as the Daylite 26+6 was, therefore, very appealing. Weighing 0.84 kg and measuring 43cm x 33 cm x 16 cm, the bag can fit a lot inside even when unexpanded. You can see below everything I packed — there was space to pack my jumper and down jacket, which I was wearing on the plane, and I probably could have added another outfit or two without expanding it. I ended up not doing much shopping, other than some coffee beans, so it remained unexpanded on my return,

There is one large main compartment, at the back of which is a laptop sleeve (there's a separate zip for quick access to this); this section has a compression strap, but I didn't really use it. It has good organisation too, with a large zipped mesh pocket inside, and two small pockets on the outside (handy for toiletries and other essentials).

The bag has padded straps and I found it comfortable to carry when walking around the airport and to and from my hotel in Riga, even with a laptop, full bottle of water and all my other gear inside. I'm 5'3" and found that the bag fit me well — I may have felt a little more like a turtle when the expansion zipper was open. There's an adjustable chest strap that provides some support.

The Daylite 26+6 is really popular and it often goes out of stock online, especially if you want the more neutral black and nightshift blue colours. Luckily for me, the teal and blue (blue spike moss/alkaline) colourway, which was my first choice, was easier to get hold of. The woman behind me on the plane on both flights had the same bag in the same colour, although she'd also brought a small suitcase; she was as impressed with the backpack as I was!

I got a good deal at Wardow, paying £60, but keep checking back on Amazon and the Osprey site — and if it's available in a colour you like, don't hold back because it will probably be sold out again soon!

WHAT'S IN MY BAG: CLOTHES

I spent four days in late April in Riga and the forecast looked variable, ranging from 26C on the evening I arrived and dropping to 10C on my final morning. The forecast turned out to be pretty accurate and it was sunny for most of my trip, apart from a heavy downpour one evening. It was very warm on the first two days, and a little cooler on the second two. Packing layers turned out to be a good strategy!

• Worn on the plane: turquoise Patagonia NanoPuff down jacket, teal Sweaty Betty hoodie, indigo Unbound Merino tee, jeans, HOKA trainers.
• Two other short-sleeve tees in aqua and pink, as well as one thin long-sleeve tee in purple/green.
• Deep blue v-neck cardigan.
• One nice dress and navy ballet flats for fancier dinners.
• Gym kit (Wolves shirt, shorts, sports bra) and bikini for the amazing hotel spa (the Baltic Sea was far too cold!).
• Socks and undies for four days.
• Pink beanie, iris blue scarf.

I ended up wearing everything, including the dress and ballet flats for two evening meals. I only really needed the beanie and scarf on my last day, when the temperatures dropped. Otherwise, I was mostly walking around wearing a short-sleeved tee and jeans.

I used two packing cubes to help stay organised, both from Eagle Creek: a larger compressible one, which held most of my clothes, and a small one that I used for my underwear/swimwear.

WHAT'S IN MY BAG: TECH & ESSENTIALS

As I'm not quite at the pure one-bag travel stage, I brought two day bags with me. The colourful tote I bought at Barefoot in Galle, Sri Lanka, was my main day bag, while my cobalt blue Baggu Small Crescent Bag was great for evenings and while transiting. They both fit inside the Daylite 26+6 along with everything else I brought.

Tech

• iPhone 15 Pro and Apple AirPods with noise cancellation. I stayed connected with an Airalo eSIM, which had good service throughout Riga. I paid $7 (about £5.20) for 2GB of data, and if you sign up using my referral code — REBECC3024 — we both get $3 credit.
• MacBook Air M4 — I finally upgraded my ageing MacBook Pro this year, and its replacement is much faster, has great battery life and — importantly, given I was using a backpack instead of a suitcase — much lighter.
• Kindle Paperwhite.
• Canon G7X Mk II camera — in the interests of packing light, I opted for my compact camera on this trip. I've had it for nearly a decade and it still takes great photos, including in low light. I always keep this credit-card-sized foldable tripod in my wallet at all times.
• Power and cables: Anker USB-C 65W plug, Anker Nano Power Bank, 10,000mAh, a 6-way USB fast charging cable and Anker 3-in-1 MagSafe wireless charging station (for charging my phone, Apple Watch and AirPods simultaneously).

Other essentials

• Passport, RFID-blocking pouch by Side by Side and wallet (from Barefoot Sri Lanka).
• Small umbrella, Sungod Sierra sunglasses, teeny packable NanoBag, foldable water bottle and 4oz KeepCup for takeaway piccolos.
• Lewis N. Clark Comfort Eye Mask — my favourite sleep mask (and I've tried a lot over the years).
• Notebook and pen — for analogue travel journalling!
• Small pouch with daily essentials: plasters, paracetamol and stomach meds, hand sanitiser, Victorinox Swiss Card Nail Care, teeny torch, teeny pen, SPF lip balm and a spare hairband.
• Toiletries: my hotel had really nice toiletries, so I only needed to bring face serum, SPF 50 moisturiser, hair product, deodorant, cleanser and a little makeup, plus a mini-Wet Brush and mini-razor.

FINAL THOUGHTS

As expected, my flights to and from Riga were completely full and it was nice not to have to jostle for space in the overhead locker. My Osprey Daylite 26+6 fit very nicely under the seat in front — on longer flights, I'd prefer to have a little more room for my feet but it was perfectly fine for short haul. I had window seats on both flights, one on the left side and one on the right — the space configurations are slightly different but the bag worked well for both.

I was impressed with how much I could pack inside the Daylite 26+6 and I'm definitely going to use it for trips of three to five days in the future. It will work especially well for spring/summer travels — or trips to warmer climes. But as there was still space for me to play with, plus the expansion capability, I think it will also work for wintry trips.

On my last day, my hotel check-out was at noon and I didn't need to leave for the airport until 2 pm. Although I could have left my bag at the hotel, I preferred to maximise my remaining time in Riga by taking my backpack with me and it was very comfortable to carry on my final wanderings.

Looking for more tips for packing light? Check out my list of tried-and-tested products for travel and my other packing posts.

Heading to Riga and want to know the best things to do and see? Check out my Riga city guide and my Riga specialty coffee guide.

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