What actually matters when a journey involves multiple legs, long waits and a first week away from home.
Long-haul work travel is a different problem from holiday travel. The bag has to survive repeated handling, stay organised through several checkpoints, and carry documents that must never be buried.
Keep a single dedicated document compartment reachable without opening the main pack. Passport, contract copies, medicals and contact details belong together.
Pack for the first 72 hours as a self-contained unit — a change of clothes, essential toiletries, chargers and any medication — so a delayed bag never becomes a crisis.
Durability beats capacity. A smaller bag that survives twenty journeys is worth more than a large one that fails on the third.