We are heading to Bali in October and are wanting to buy a backpack/carrier to use.

The kids will be 22 months and 4.5 years, both under 20kg in weight. I want to be able to put either in the carrier as the other one will use the stroller.

Does anyone have experience with a backpack/carrier that they can recommend?

TIA

i would use an ergo as it folds up to not much, both children could go in it and be comfortable for you. it also has a head rest attachment if the younger one still has a sleep.
a friend has a macpac she loves but for us it would be too bulky.
C

Definitely an Ergo. It has 3 carry positions, on the front, hip and back. The shoulder straps are wide and so is the waist strap. I can carry my 6 month old in it for hours at a time, and not get a sore back. I also carried my 2nd son in it while I was pregnant, and still didn't feel any back strain. It's also easy to use and washable. There is a hood that can be used to help the infant to sleep. My two sons slept in it with no problems.

Best of luck.

Mariquita (mum of 3, 3 and under)

We took an ergo to bali in OCtober last year (son was 8 months old). It was way to hot to have a child being carried around on your back. Our stroller got a good work out and survived no problem.

Ergo as opposed to other backpack carriers (i.e hiking carriers) is that the child/baby is directly against your back - more skin contact. I would personally just take another cheap stroller. You can also hire them over there.

I loved the ergo for the airport though this year when we go in september our son (20 months) can walk in the airport

You can find heaps of tips for traveling to bali on the bali travel forum (and even ask the question there)

Hope you have fun!

Thanks for the responses, however I do not like the Ergo and am thinking of the carriers that are more designed to hiking etc that are in the camping stores.

I frequent the bali travel forum and have seen recommendations, we also asked the people we last saw in Bali that had carriers with kids in it and they advised that the more "industrial" ones are quite cool to wear and are more preferable that the ergo as they limit the stickiness from skin on skin contact.

naturalgoodness, I own both an Ergo and a Mont Hiking Baby Carrier. We have both for the reasons that previous posters mentioned. We carry an 17kg, 2 year old.
The weight distribution on a hiking baby carrier is quite different to an Ergo and takes a bit of getting used to and I prefer an Ergo for the way it feels.
However for keeping a baby dry a hiking pack is far better. The main issue with taking a hiking style carrier is the size, because of the rigid back they take up a fair bit of room.

We have a Kathmandu one and when we go on big hikes, DS always goes in it for some time and DD goes in it for about 20mins a day. I have not weighed them in a year so I don't exactly know how much they weigh. Ages in sig.
Our backpacks are about 4yrs old, we use them every few months (sometimes every few weeks) and good as new.
A stroller is great unless the path is rocky/4WD type then a stroller is silly .