Packing Revisited

I'm thinking about packing again. This time just for two weeks and as many countries, so it's going to be fast and light.
My favorite reference on the subject is this website.

http://www.onebag.com/

It's a great, technical, detailed, tutorial on the art of globetrotting without checked baggage.

It's so much easier to get through an airport with just a backpack and a purse, and even more important if you need to do some getting around in a city after you arrive. Just in case, I'm going to pack a little duffle bag I can put extra stuff in on the way back, but I'm trying for streamlined one-bag travel.

I think I may get a new carry on before I leave though. They're comparitively cheap, and my shoulder hurt for two days from the strap of the bag I came with. It's a convertable sling/handle/shoulder strap gym bag, and it's not really great at anything. The sling kills my shoulder if I wear it on one side, and if I wear it across my chest, I feel self concious, and it still hurts. The shoulder strap isn't much better- it's attached so that the bag flops around, and still isn't comfortable for long. Nor are the handles.

What I've got to decide, though, is what sort of bag to get. In airports, wheels are great, but outside on rough sidewalks, grass, and all the other surfaces our planet is decked out with, they are just useless weight. A regular backpack is a bother to live out of, because you can't see everything laid out and have to do so much digging to get to things. I'd love to find a rectangular, suitcase style bag that unzips on three sides, with well padded backpack straps, and maybe even removable wheels, but that's not likely to happen, at least not here and in my price range. I'll let you know what I find.