Here at Cotopaxi we live by the mantra, "see the world and make it better." A great example of living by that adventurous spirit is our Community Engagement Manager, Emily Meshumar. True to the Cotopaxi way, she and her husband set out for a two week trip to Spain and Portugal with nothing but their Allpa Travel Packs and hip packs. Here are some of the highlights from her trip: 

In April my husband and I had the pleasure of traveling to Spain and Portugal for two weeks. We chose these destinations because we found a cheap flight from Portland to Madrid with only a single layover. During our time there we visited five different cities—we did a few walking tours, a bike tour, a wine tour, and went to a fado and flamenco show. We packed a lot into two weeks, but we had the best time. 

We both traveled with our Allpa 35L Travel Pack and a hip pack (Coso 2L and Bataan 3L)for the entirety of the trip. This was the first big trip we took our Allpa Packs on and now we're obsessed. We were shocked at how much it fit, especially with all the clothes we needed for the different activities we had planned. My husband kept commenting on folks who had to roll their rolling suitcases up the cobblestone streets and was thankful that we could avoid the hassle, and be hands-free on buses and trains.

One of the best hacks we discovered on this trip—since we were traveling on a budget—was that most cities offered free walking tours. Since we only spent about two days in each city and wanted to make the most of each place, we found the walking tours to be a great way to see the cities and learn about the history in a budget-friendly way. We met so many great travelers on these tours as well, and actually hung out with them afterward. We were blown away by Madrid and Porto, but we loved each place we visited. We can’t wait to visit again! 

Need a great pack for a trip of your own? Check out the rest of our Allpa Travel Collection.