In June, Mathieu and I went for sailing lessons at the Black Sea, then on a short road trip to Romania’s Dobrogea region, plus the Danube Delta. We chose to travel with backpacks because they offer so much more flexibility than rolling luggage, suitcases or duffel bags. Unfortunately, Mathieu’s backpack didn’t make it back in one piece, suffering a pretty big tear close to the top.
Once we returned to Bucharest, I began searching for a backpack for him and came across NayoSmart’s account on Instagram. I reached out to them and, in the end, they offered to send me a travel backpack to test and review. I was even given the option to choose between the Nayo Almighty and the Nayo EXP Backpack.
So I checked out NayoSmart’s website. Both travel backpacks looked amazing and they had lots of features, so it was a difficult decision to make. However, I found Nayo Almighty to better fit Mathieu’s needs, so I chose this model.
After sending them a list with how we intended to test the product for the Nayo Almighty review, NayoSmart’s representatives surprised us both by sending this travel backpack in two sizes:
- Normal(25-liter, 46L x16W x32H)
- Large(32-liter, 51L x 17W x35H).
NAYOSMART’S VERSATILE BACKPACKS
Both Nayo Almighty sizes make these backpacks perfect to take on all sorts of trips, especially as carry-on luggage on the plane. The material they’re made of is resistant and waterproof, so they’re perfectly fit for a rainy hike in the mountains. However, they look great and elegant enough for anyone to take as luggage on a business trip, too.
The small Nayo Almighty backpack can also pass as a personal item. And, while dragging your carry-on, you don’t even have to keep it on your back. You can easily fit it over the handle of your rolling luggage by using a special strap on its back, so you’ll get from A to B without the backpack slipping off.
And, yes, the NayoSmart backpacks are mainly advertised as backpacks for men. But just check out the photos below and see how comfortable I am with mine, even though I’m a woman!
DELIVERY OF THE NAYO ALMIGHTY TRAVEL BACKPACKS
The delivery of the travel backpacks was done through DHL, so they arrived pretty fast. It actually took longer for DHL to get them out of customs than it took for them to get in the country. But NayoSmart’s team was there to support me and provide me with any necessary information all along the way.
I must tell you that I have very strict standards when it comes to customer service, because of my previous workplace. And I’m happy to say that NayoSmart’s staff has met and exceeded all my expectations.
PACKING FOR OUR UPCOMING ROAD TRIP THROUGH ROMANIA
Our road trip through Romania took place between 6 and 13 July 2019. However, we had to pack for 8 days because we weren’t 100% sure if we returned on Saturday or on Sunday. We also had to consider that while some cities would be very hot, with temperatures over 30° Celsius, we’d also stay in some places with temperatures under 10°. Therefore we had to add warmer and bulkier clothes, too. And, although on the website it says that the Nayo Almighty is fit for packing for only up to 5 days, it was very easy for us to make everything fit for 8 days.
As I said, we had the Nayo Almighty backpacks in two sizes. Because Mathieu packs lighter than me, he took the normal-sized 25L one, while I took the large-sized one of 32L.
WHAT MATHIEU PACKED IN THE NORMAL-SIZED 25-LITER NAYO ALMIGHTY BACKPACK
Clothes
- 8 t-shirts
- 1 long-sleeve
- 1 heavy sweater
- 1 pair of long pants
- 8 pairs of underwear
- 6 pairs of socks
- 1 towel
Regarding the socks, he realized towards the end of our trip that he counted wrong.
Shoes
- 1 pair of flip-flops
And only because I made him take them. OK, I actually stuffed them in his backpack without his knowledge. But he found them very useful and relaxing after a long day wearing closed sport shoes.
USING THE 2 EXTRA BAGS THAT COME WITH THE BACKPACKS
Each Nayo Almighty backpack comes with two extra bags:
- Electronic devices and cables bag
- Washbag for dry-wet separation.
Inside the first one, we each stored our cables. For example, I had cables and chargers for my camera and phone. Plus the power bank, although the latter can be kept in a pocket found at the back of the Nayo Almighty, where it’s easy to connect it to the USB cable in case you want to charge your phone on the go.
In the washbag, I had my toothbrush, a girlie razor, and some travel-sized bottles of shower gel and shampoo, in case we didn’t find any at some of the places we stayed in. (Same reason why we took the towels, too, actually.) What I really liked about the washbag is that it comes with a hook. This means that when you’re going to be in a hostel or some other place with a shared bathroom, you can take it in the shower, hang it, use it, close it, pack it.
I found both of the bags very useful for separating these items from the rest of the stuff we packed. And they’re conveniently caught by the backpack with velcro. That way, no matter the position in which the backpack is stored, the bags will stay in place and they’ll be easy to find at all times.
EXPLORING NAYO ALMIGHTY POCKETS
The Nayo Almighty has 20 pockets. Yeah, you heard me right: 20! Until now, I’ve always used up all the existing pockets of my travel backpacks. But try as I might, I ran out of things before stuffing all of Nayo Almighty’s pockets. I take it as a challenge for my next trips, though!
There are many ways to use these pockets, depending on each traveler’s needs. We used them for towels, laundry bag, deodorant, hairbrush, cap, sunglasses, medicine, contacts solution, books, Bluetooth speaker. And on different types of trips, they’re perfect to hold the laptop, tablet and/or external SDD safe and secure.
One particular pocket that I absolutely loved is found on the exterior of the Nayo Almighty backpack, on the side that comes right against your back. I actually didn’t even see this one at first, Mathieu pointed it out to me. It’s perfectly camouflaged to keep your wallet or travel documents secure. If you look at the photos, you’ll see what I mean!
Note/disclaimer
Both of us also had windbreakers that we didn’t add inside the backpacks. We always store these in the car unless we need to keep them on us.
HOW WE GOT ALONG WITH OUR BACKPACKS DURING THE TRIP
If you’ve ever been on a road trip, you know that this implies moving from one place to the next very often, if not daily. This means that you’ll always have to do some packing and unpacking. I remember how much I hated this part during the Balkan road trip. Back then, I traveled with a backpack that had lots of pockets and permitted access to the main compartment through the top and bottom. However, it was still difficult to find stuff and to keep everything tidy during the trip. I had to pack and unpack everything several times, which wasn’t fun and also made me lose some precious time which could have been better spent otherwise.
For me, it was a game-changer to use the Nayo Almighty backpack during this road trip. This travel backpack opens up like a suitcase. You see all your clothes in one glance and you just take your pick of what you want to wear easily. You take it out and everything else stays in its place. It’s amazing! And in the morning, you put everything in its place and you’re good to go in no time.
Mathieu was very happy with the chest and shoulder straps. He kept telling me he loved how comfortable the backpack felt against his back.
And, believe it or not, we even tested the whistle! We wanted to get in the car, but the doors were closed, so I whistled, the driver heard me from quite a distance and came to open the doors. Quite handy, I have to say.
Nayo Almighty REVIEW CONCLUSION
So, to conclude our Nayo Almighty review, we’re very happy with all the features of the backpacks and we’re looking forward to taking them on some new travel adventures. We might even have to lend them out to my parents unless they get some of their own soon because they really liked them.
Therefore, Mathieu and I give the Nayo Almighty a rating of 5 out of 5!
If you’re thinking of becoming a proud owner of a NayoSmart backpack, too, you can click on the images below to learn more about Nayo Almighty backpack.
Source from The Travel Bunny
1 comment
Mirela Letailleur (The Travel Bunny)
Thank you so much for sharing my review! Just a quick update, though: the original article is available at https://www.the-travel-bunny.com/nayo-general-review/ with an 8% discount code at the end ;)