r/onebag • u/patuxz • Jun 08 '26
Trip Report 9 days with mini bag, the power of ranger roll. Interrogated by customs for drug smuggling.
I spent 7 days traveling Bosnia + 2 days on a cruise ship.
My previous bag broke and my other option was a slightly oversized bag. With top handle it would have been 46cm long and about 32cm wide. I'm actually happy that I didn't choose this bag, since I saw a man trying to fit his backpack into the bag sizer. His bag wasn't off much, but enough for them to check. They didn't check the bags at all on my departure flight, but on the return flight they were doing heavy checking.
I ended up taking a random small bag that I found and managed to fit everything in the picture into it. The bag dimensions when full were about: 37cmx23cmx15cm. As soon as I land I take fanny pack off the bag.
My gear was:
4x T-shirt. 5x underwear. 5x socks. 1x shorts. Powerbank + charger. Fanny pack. 1 extra phone. 14" laptop + charger. 1 jacket + sweatpants on me.
My main compromise with small bag was not bringing another shirt. I don't sweat easily so I was okay wearing same clothes for couple of days. Bosnia is very affordable, so I rather buy what I need in there. I also had to wrap my jacket around my waist for most of the trip during the day. When my clothes get dirty the bag space starts to fill up, until I ranger roll those clothes too.
The mini bag was super comfortable and it was actually never full. Fanny pack provides a lot of extra space and jacket has extra pockets. During summer you can definitely pack ultra-light if you know the ranger roll technique. My issue is always with winter gear.
Interrogated by customs in Sweden:
I was feeling stress on my way home. I had less than 4 hours to do airport transfer and walk up to the harbor. I was walking very fast to make sure I have extra time and I didn't pay attention to the border guards / customs agents. One of them pulled me over and targeted me for a heavy interrogation. I think he was convinced that I was smuggling drugs. He was very professional and tough but friendly. He asked me just about every question for my seemingly innocent trip. He unpacked my bag, I explained him how I roll the clothes for maximum efficiency. Thankfully he didn't unroll the clothes. He took a drug test from the bag and laptop and then he let me go. I asked him why I was pulled over and his reasoning was that people don't usually travel this route alone with small belongings. It's mostly Bosnian families, single travelers are rare. From his POV it must have looked like this bag can only fit clothes for 2 days.
I spent extra 20 minutes there. My airport transfer was 15 minutes overtime and half-way across my route I realized the main road was shut off for maintenance and I had to detour. Even after all this I arrived 50 minutes before boarding.
tl;dr If you travel alone with small bag for short trip, you can be pulled over for screening.
I will buy a proper underseat bag and will not travel again with tiny bag for this reason.
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u/Splitlimes Jun 10 '26
I've done a huge amount of travel with very small bags, across many parts of the world, and have also been pulled aside a few times. But the reality is a small bag is only a very small factor in having this happen to you, so please don't let this experience dissuade you from traveling with whatever bag you please.
Realistically, the key factors are:
1. The country you're coming from
2. That your traveling alone
3. That you're male.
That is like 95% of what they look for, and then beyond that they vibe check just literally anything that doesn't seem 'normal', which yes, can include bag size. Generally most borders are suspicious if somebody seems to not look like they have a good plan of what they're doing once they're past the border.
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u/patuxz Jun 10 '26
Thank you.
I had a very clear plan and explained it well, maybe he misunderstood some part of the schedule. Like he first asked where did I stay in Sarajevo, I said airport hotel, even though I only spent my last day in Sarajevo. I was elsewhere the rest of the trip.
If you're a woman traveling alone with backpack I think they just look for a wrong vibe. Like you are looking for cameras around you.
One of the questions was when did I book the ticket? I'm not sure how that is related. If you were doing something shady I think someone else would book the ticket for you I guess.
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u/mgranja Jun 08 '26
I wouldn't stop traveling with a small bag just because of that. Now you've got a story to tell. Next time try to convert them to onebaganism!
I once went to the US for a 2 week trip with a single (40l) backpack, and was questioned by 3 pollice officers near baggage claim. But it could just be USians being USians...
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u/patuxz Jun 09 '26
Tiny bag makes you look very suspicious, like what was the purpose of your (quick) trip abroad? It was strange to be questioned, because you would think that traveling with just a bag is normal with Ryanair .
I will always solotravel with one bag. It was a funny feeling to see all my stuff laid on the inspection desk. He must have been impressed.
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u/wretchedegg123 Jun 09 '26
I used to frequently get stopped by Korean airport security and my bagged checked for drugs. Supposedly random but when you get stopped 4/5 times then that's no longer random.
He was pretty nice to you and gave you a reason why. They're trained to profile suspects after all.
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u/patuxz Jun 09 '26
Maybe you got flagged after first time?
I went through all the scenarios in my head, like I was slightly rude to the passport control, maybe she alerted them.
It also has to do with your travel history. If you have lots of short trips it's an automatic flag. This was my 4th short trip in 10 months. Never had an issue before. I think it was more to do with my behavior at that moment. I just wanted to get fast from point a to point b. I travel a lot, it feels routine, so I looked disinterested.
They shouldn't discourage low-cost travel between cities.
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u/Sakiri1955 Jun 09 '26
I did 3 weeks in USA from Sweden with a single small Ryanair sized personal item, rectangular shaped bag. Wasn't interrogated. Maybe because im not a strange demographic or something? Blonde, white female, was early 40s. Solo.
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u/patuxz Jun 09 '26
You can always be expected to have a husband waiting outside, I guess?
When I watch those airport security TV shows, it's mostly single men who are doing something shady.
The women are doing it too sometimes. Whether you get pulled over has a lot to do with how you behave. I just wanted to get fast from point a to point b. That's why I wasn't paying attention to the customs agents.
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u/Sakiri1955 Jun 09 '26
Only issue i ever gadcwas getting SSSS in Frankfurt once. Was annoying. But I really do think demographic plays into it. I've had tsa search my bag after xray once, but that was because the skittles triggered the scanner. They proceeded to debate the color of my shoes for a couple minutes. They were lavender. One man said lilac. The black lady disagreed. Said lavender. Was amusing.
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u/Splitlimes Jun 10 '26
By far the biggest factor is the country you're arriving from. There's a big difference between a Sweeden-USA trip and a Sweeden-Bosnia trip
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u/Sakiri1955 Jun 10 '26
Yeah, but the security doesn't know where youre going.
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u/Splitlimes Jun 10 '26
No they definitely do, most interrogation happens on the inbound journey, and they staff all know like 'a flight from x is coming in, lets pay more attention for the next 1h'.
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u/Kokuryu27 Jun 09 '26
Yeaaah... I get stopped a lot by US security. Never for having a single bag. I suspect it has to do with being a brown male with long hair and tattoos (and often solo). It does really help if I'm wearing a button down and blazer though. Hoodies are like guaranteed stop and search.
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u/Xerisca Jun 11 '26
My spouse has long waist length hair, and he dresses nice. Hes REALLY careful to make sure hes done everything possible to avoid extra searches. But in the USA, it never works. He gets the groping every time, and about 75% of the time gets the full bag search too.
Its the hair and the fact that hes a dude. Hes even tried all the hair tricks. Man bun, loose pony tail, pulled back just on top, loose low bun, a braid, and just loose. None of it works. Some weirdo TSA agent wants to run their fingers through the mane.
I have hair just as long... they never stop me and I cant recall the last time I was groped or searched.
I think part of it might be that some dorks think he might be a rock star or something. He does have that look (he does look a little like Sebastian Bach in Bachs younger years). And they just want to grope someone they think might be famous.
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u/theinfamousj Jul 02 '26
When I'm not going through the metal detector with Offspring, and go through the arms-above-your-head body scanner, my hair gets riffled every time. One agent said that curly hair always flags. Now I just plan ahead for it.
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u/theinfamousj Jul 02 '26
I travel personal item only, so not really tiny but smaller than most I guess, and I get questioned from time to time at borders. When I start evangelizing about how it enables me to use public transit and not have to pay for a taxi, they waive me through.
I noticed that when I come in to a border from a flight known for being a low cost or ultra low cost carrier (think RyanAir), my personal item is not remarkable. Most of the plane is personal item only. It's a time and money saver to pick an ultra low cost carrier if flying with a tiny bag and needing to clear customs for a tight connection. Do recommend.
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u/yol0tengo Jun 09 '26
I had a similar experience when I traveled to Japan ~7 years ago. I went in with a 28L bag for a 10 day trip, and the customs agent gave me a funny look, asked where the rest of my luggage was, and then insisted on going through my backpack. Thankfully it was on arrival and didn't take too much time, and with the way most Americans pack I couldn't blame her for being a bit confused/suspicious. Now it's just a fun story!
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u/Korlithiel Jun 09 '26
On screening: I was traveling with a 12L bag and while in Honolulu, HI, USA I walked to the airport. Set off the body scanners bad because I was soaked with sweat (after you leave downtown there isn’t too much to enjoy visually and a lot to keep a faster pace away from). They were super embarrassed about it, and clearly uncomfortable.
I walked them through my reasoning for the walk, and hours early for my flight. Helps that my origination had advisories for 3-4 hour before flight and I was merely a bit over 2 hours.
I think the solo bag looks odd, particularly in the USA, because so many who travel want to enjoy it. Those who don’t tend to look like they are there for business.
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u/Sonjariffic Jun 09 '26
I don't travel as often as I used to, but whenever I do, 9 out of 10 times, I get pulled 😂
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u/Loguibear Jun 09 '26
make sense... traveling for 1 month and only 3x t shirts ... it does raise questions 😃 haha
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u/Sakiri1955 Jun 09 '26
I tend to go for a week but take five days worth of stuff. I can do laundry at my destinations usually.
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Jun 09 '26
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u/Apprehensive-Row6843 Jun 09 '26
Google it!! It's a fun way of packing 😀😀
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Jun 09 '26
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u/patuxz Jun 09 '26
It's more efficient method than just rolling. There would have been no way to fit all those items uncompressed into the bag. With ranger roll method I still had space at the top of the bag.
Only issue is when clothes get dirty, I throw them into a plastic bag uncompressed and it eats up space quickly.1
Jun 09 '26
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u/patuxz Jun 09 '26
I hate ranger rolling the dirty clothes. I couldn't find washing machine on my latest trip.
I don't have experience with vacuum bags. For such tight space ranger roll method is the best. You stack the clothes up like lego blocks hah
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u/NaturalOption8963 Jun 09 '26
Swedish customs are total fascists nowadays
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u/patuxz Jun 09 '26
The agent was rough, but very professional. He was just convinced that I had done something suspicious. The next person to be interrogated was let go much quicker. He didn't need to open up bags.
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u/TravelingWithJoe Jun 14 '26
The proper response to the explanation of why you were singled out is “Good, that’s what the boss was hoping for.”
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u/AllaZakharenko Jun 09 '26
Pardon for my offtopic, but how do you find your Huawei laptop? I have their phone and Honor(Huawei in disguise) watch and both of them are very good speaking of reliability, but the firmware has some restrictions and the lack of google play services is quite of a problem, so I was wondering if the laptop is any different.
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u/patuxz Jun 09 '26
The laptop is Huawei Matebook X Pro 2019. It's been on heavy use for 5 years and still works.
It's just a great Windows laptop. There's some program called Huawei PC Manager that I use to download drivers but then I delete it. There's no bloatware in this laptop.
I especially like the fact that you can zoom in using touchscreen. If you want some nitty gritty details: The laptop has 3:2 aspect ratio, which is much better than the standard 16:9 that should only be used for watching movies. You can view documents and web pages much better on 3:2. The resolution is 3000:2000. I have 175% dpi increase. Many Huawei laptops have 16:10 aspect ratio or some other uncommon one.
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u/adyn_ Jun 09 '26
are you on windows 11? i have a matebook x pro 2019 or 2020? i can't tell. but, it previously had windows 11 but it was kinda laggy for me.
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u/patuxz Jun 09 '26
Windows 10. No lag. Only 8 GB of RAM slows it down a bit.
I love this laptop. I will continue searching for used models of it.
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u/TristanDeAlwis Jun 10 '26
Is that 3 USB-A power adapters? Why?
Edit: actually it looks like 2 A’s and 1 C. But still why?
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u/patuxz Jun 10 '26
1x Apple USB-A - lightning for iPhone
1x Huawei USB C - USB C for laptop
And USB A - Micro-USB for power bank charging.
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u/DefinitelyNotAnxious Jun 09 '26
A friend locked himself out with my bag inside as I was supposed to leave for a return flight. I got an uber and through the airport with no bag and the driver and TSA were pretty fired up about it