George Clooney and a backpack

See the new George Clooney movie Up in the Air - the trailer makes it seems more interesting than it is... (though it has good reviews, perhaps I missed the point.)
But there is a backpack! And Clooney as Ryan Bingham, the apparently shallow, heartless, womanising (albeit gorgeous) motivational speaker uses it as a motif for the baggage that we carry through life.
His backpack is very light. He has no real relationships - just casual sex. Nowhere truly 'homelike' just a clinical white shell of an apartment. He exists in a world of airports and hotels, frequent flyer miles and hire cars. (Endless promotional opportunities in the film for American Airlines and Hilton - one of the things I found irritating).
But - it's interesting that he uses the backpack as a metaphor, carrying emotional baggage as well as material possessions.
Our new map/suitcases in I Packed This Myself also pose questions about the baggage you carry when you travel. Whether emotional or material. With the aim of linking this to individual and collective ideas of identity.