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AWAY Weekender Bag Review

2019-07-05 · Long video (solo, talking head or whiteboard) · Ali · recording, 13:35 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Tools, apps and tech (also: Money and investing) · mode: Review and recommendation · tags: His own numbers

Ali reviews the Away Weekender bag he bought himself: its laptop, iPad, Kindle and shoe pockets cut the friction of weekend trips home. He justifies its £250 price by the time it saves him, by spending money where he wants to spend his time, and by being able to afford it, while warning of the purchase justification machine in our heads.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Intro: an unsponsored review of the Away Weekender bag

  • ★★★ Ali loves the Away Weekender, a bag he got a few weeks earlier and has used every weekend for trips; he says the review is not sponsored. — 00:00:00

00:00:58 — Why a weekend bag is useful: the Peak Design backpack is too small, the Away Carry-On too big

  • ★★ Ali loves his Peak Design Everyday Backpack, but it does not quite work for weekend trips. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ Ali loves his Away Carry-On suitcase, which has survived two years of abuse on trips through Sudan and Iceland, but it is too big to take to someone's house for a weekend. — 00:01:27
  • ★★ Every other weekend bag Ali looked at lacked the pockets he needed, above all a laptop pocket and preferably a shoe pocket. — 00:01:56
  • ★★★ The Away Weekender has markedly reduced the friction of weekend trips for Ali: going home to St Albans, he just puts everything into it. — 00:01:56 · friction, St Albans
  • ★★ With the Away Weekender Ali saves about 20 minutes when packing for home, because he no longer has to decide which bag to take. — 00:02:25

00:02:39 — The bag's features: laptop, iPad, Kindle and shoe pockets, the main pocket, straps and the one drawback

  • ★★ The Away Weekender's laptop pocket fits a 15-inch laptop. — 00:03:03
  • ★★ The Away Weekender has a pocket the perfect size for Ali's iPad Pro, with a hook to hang keys on. — 00:03:03 · iPad Pro
  • ★★ A third, tiny pocket of the Away Weekender is the perfect size for a Kindle; Ali also keeps his wallet there. — 00:03:30 · Kindle
  • ★★ Ali says reading a book on a Kindle is a ten times better experience than reading on an iPad or another screen. — 00:03:30 · Kindle, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★ Ali hardly uses his wallet: he pays for everything with his Apple Watch. — 00:03:30 · Apple Watch
  • ★★ Ali says he has a video coming out soon on why he reads on a Kindle rather than on an iPad or a phone. — 00:03:30 · Kindle, iPad, iPad Pro
  • ★★ Its pockets for a laptop, an iPad and a Kindle make Ali inclined to like Away, the company behind the Away Weekender, as thinking about the needs of the modern traveller. — 00:03:59 · iPad Pro, Kindle
  • ★★ The Away Weekender's shoe pocket is very convenient for Ali, who likes to carry boat shoes at weekends and before could only take them in his carry-on suitcase. — 00:04:28
  • ★★ Ali has heard that the Away Weekender, filled up, holds as much as another bag he shows; it has always fitted everything he wanted. (hedged) — 00:05:01
  • ★★ The Away Weekender's main pocket has three smaller pockets inside: two dividers, where Ali keeps chargers apart from everything else, and a zipped pocket. — 00:05:01
  • ★ Ali fits five T-shirts, five pairs of underwear, three sets of scrubs and much more into the Away Weekender, and it still zips up. — 00:06:39
  • ★ The Away Weekender weighs little on its own, and its shoulder straps are detachable. — 00:07:10
  • ★★ Ali expects his natural-canvas Away Weekender to get dirty after years of use, and suspects the dry cleaners or a washing machine will put it right. (hedged) — 00:07:35

00:08:04 — Is a bag worth 250 pounds: diminishing returns, friction, spend your money where you want to spend your time

  • ★★ The Away Weekender costs 250 pounds or 250 dollars. — 00:08:04
  • ★★★ By diminishing returns, Ali says, going from a 30-pound bag almost as good to the 250-pound Away Weekender buys little more bag, only slightly more convenience. — 00:08:33
  • ★★ What Ali pays for in the Away Weekender is the convenience and the reduction of friction, since no other weekend bag he found has all its pockets. — 00:08:33 · friction
  • ★★★ Ali counts the Away Weekender worth its price: about 30 weekend trips a year, each 10 minutes quicker, saves five hours, and he values his time at far more than 50 pounds an hour. — 00:09:07
  • ★★★ Ali repeats his rule to spend money where you want to spend your time: a more comfortable sofa or a Tesla would only make him spend more time on the sofa or driving, which he does not want. — 00:09:48
  • ★★ Ali has no TV in his house: buying one would encourage him to watch TV, which he does not want in his life, though he says he probably will buy one at some point. — 00:10:17
  • ★★ Ali paid about 300 pounds for his Away Carry-On, a price he calls ridiculous for a suitcase; his brother has one too, and everyone they know with one loves it for making packing joyful. — 00:10:17 · Taimur Abdaal

  • ★★★ By the rule to spend your money where you want to spend your time, Ali thinks a lot of money on an accessory that encourages you to travel is worth it, as travel teaches and broadens your horizons. — 00:11:05

    “Spend your money where you want to spend your time.”

  • ★★ With the Away Weekender, Ali now looks forward to packing for a weekend home and feels happy doing it. — 00:11:05

  • ★★ Ali can comfortably afford the 250-pound Away Weekender with a full-time job and side income from YouTube and his side businesses; for anyone who could feasibly spend that on a bag, he says it would be worth it. — 00:12:04

  • ★★ Ali says we all have a purchase justification machine in our heads. — 00:12:04

    “we all have this purchase justification machine in our heads”

  • ★★ Ali thinks the Away Weekender's main value is functional rather than aesthetic, but says his reason for buying it, less friction, may be a story he tells himself. (hedged) — 00:12:33 · friction

  • ★★ Away has a 100-day return policy, Ali thinks, so the bag can be tried and returned. (hedged) — 00:12:33

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Away Weekender · value of delight

Also: People: Taimur Abdaal

Organizations: Away · IKEA · John Lewis · Tesla

Concepts: diminishing returns · friction · purchase justification machine

Places: Iceland · St Albans · Sudan

Products: Apple Pay · Apple Watch · Articulate · Avalon · Away Carry-On · iPad Pro · Kindle · Peak Design Everyday Backpack

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