We recently spent two weeks in Kyoto. I traveled with my Aeronaut 45 and Pilot. I had no trouble fitting the Aeronaut into the overheads (we were on Embraer 190s and Boeing 777s). Ground crews who helped guide us to connecting flights were surprised that we had no checked baggage (that's all you have?), but it made it easy to get through customs without having to retrieve baggage first. Burnt Orange is an amazing color! When I was trying to decide what color Aeronaut to buy, I ordered a bunch of pouches and my mini Q-kit came in Burnt Orange: I could see that it's an amazing rich, burnished color, and decided that it would work with a large bag like the Aeronaut 45.
I took the Pilot as a bag for books and electronics (13 inch MacBook Air; two iPads; Kindle; various cables, headphones, adapters, etc.) that I wanted readily available for the flight without having to retrieve from the overhead bins. The Aeronaut had everything else. I might have overpacked, but given how hot and humid Kyoto was, it was nice having multiple changes of clothing without having to worry about washing all the time.
In one side compartment:
- Teva sandals
- Cross-trainers
In other side compartment:
- Laundry stuff sack with underwear
- Travel tray
- Liquids in ziploc bag
- 3-D clear organizer cube with medicines, vitamins, toothbrush, band-aids
In center compartment:
- Packing cube backpack with:
-- 3 pairs of pants
-- Pajama pants
-- 2 long-sleeve shirts
-- 2 short-sleeved tops
-- 1 soft jacket
- Small packing cube with:
-- 3 tee shirts
-- 8 pairs of low-cut socks
- Small packing cube with:
-- bathing suit
-- running shorts
-- sports bra
-- regular bra
Also in the center compartment: hat; a pair of small binoculars; and a medium pouch with iPod nano, heartrate monitor, etc.
I used the packing cube backpack as a day pack each day. Great for carrying all kinds of stuff - binoculars, guidebook, umbrella, souvenirs. I used the bottom pocket to hold water bottles (to separate them from everything else and also for easy access).