eBagsMother Lode Jr Travel Backpack

Q: Will this fit under the seat on airplanes so as to be the "personal item"?

Yes. I have used this as my personal item (and only bag) on Frontier and Allegiant. It fit under the seat on both airlines.

Q: Has anyone used this as a carry on suitcase on Ryanair within the last 6 months? Was it ok? Thanks!!

Yes! We were hesitant and assumed that we would be out of luck, but we paid the $7.00 USD (I think it cost) to take a personal item onboard (in addition to my purse), and zero issues. It fit easily into the above bin too! This was when we traveled from Edinburgh to Dublin (June 2018). We are purchasing a 2nd one for me because it worked so well!

Q: I’m looking for a backpack that can do double duty as a carry on and as a daypack while on a safari tour. Is this too big to use as a daypack?

I packed all my stuff in the Jr for 2 wks in the Scandinavian countries this spring. My husband had the regular size. So I would say 'yes". We've been on safari and all we really needed was our camera and binoculars and we really didn't need the binoculars unless you are 'birding'. Travel light and efficient no one will know that you are rotating 3 outfits, or at least the people we have traveled with didn't remember or care.