Hello 1baggers,

I have been lurking around this site and pretty much every forum and website which talk about one bag travel as I was deciding "the one bag" that I would be using for non-business travel. I live in Europe and since the most recommended bags around here are from the US, I had to be very sure of what my requirements are, which company to go with and the type of bag. Based my needs I wanted a well constructed max capacity bag that I could carryon predominantly as a backpack.

Although it came down to MEI, RedOxx and Tom Bihn, I decided to go ahead with MEI. Now I was very much leaning towards their Silver Streak Bag. But could not find any information online about it. I decided to contact them. I was in constant touch with a guy named Salim. He was extremely helpful and eventually decided on the Voyageur. But I wanted the some changes made to the Voyaguer and hence asked him for:
1. Extra pockets (2) in the front just like their Overnighter,
2. I had see some videos where the gap between the main carry handle of the bag and the bag itself was a bit too high for my liking making the bag dangle when heavy. So asked him to stitch it a bit closer.
3. I wanted the Voyageur in the Clay color. I saw this color on the Overnighter on their facebook page.

They immediately agreed to my requests and I placed the order by the end of Feb. I was told to allow 4-5 weeks since they had to customize the bag and ship it to Europe. But I did not have to wait that long and received it yesterday!!!

I couldn't have been more happier. The bag is very well constructed, the extra pockets on the front and the stitching details of the handle are perfect!! I and the Mrs. loved the Clay color.The color gave the bag a very adventurous and outdoorsy feel!! I dont have anything else to add about the quality of the bag as there are many people who have done a great job saying just that previously.
The links below will take you to two pictures that I'd taken just when i received the bag. Sorry for the bad quality. The pictures do not do justice to the color. If you need more pictures or pictures of a specific part please feel free to comment and I'll add more pictures!

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/407/photo7ov.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/171/photo8kbj.jpg/

Glad you're happy with the bag. You're in the company of a lot (if not most) travel writers who recommend that bag. Happy travels!

Thanks Larry. Cant wait to hit the road now!

I'm glad your experience with MEI was positive. I try to support the "small guy"/business, especially in this day and age. It can't be easy to keep a small business going. Their advertising is non-existent. Red Oxx and Tom Bihn have homemade videos linked to Youtube at least. MEI relies solely on word-of-mouth (or website recommendations).

Your bag is a beautiful color. I'm always stuck with business black, but if I could pick a different color, your choice of clay is an inspired one. Nobody can "claim" they mistook your bag for theirs. Happy traveling.

Thanks Neil. I share the same sentiments as you towards small business which put out a quality product. Thanks for your note on the color. So i guess i'm not the only one who likes the color! :)

My wife got a navy blue MEI Voyageur. She put bright flower patches all over it and a girl skull patch. Nobody can mistake that one! She always gets compliments. On my gray onebag (different brand), I switched the black metal zipper pulls for bright orange pulls. It's an easy change and makes it obviously unique!

Hi. I'm looking into the MEI Voyageur as well. Could you let me know what the additional charge ended up being for the extra pockets and special color request? Thanks!

Hi MI,

I believe it was around $15 for the pockets. The color, i dont think was charged , since they already had the Executive Overnighter in the same color. So it was just a matter of asking if i could have the Voyageur in the same color.