We are going on an international trip soon and we are planning on doing a quite a bit of hiking carrying a 23 lb toddler. We never really have a good baby carrier (the only one we had was given to us at a baby shower and we didn't like it). We went to REI and checked out some of their baby/toddler carriers but they are so bulky! With a bunch of things we'll be packing I kinda got drawn back from the bulkiness of it. I also hate to buy something that we're only going to use once (but I guess that's inevitable).

Have you been on a big trip before and did you recommend the baby carrier you used? Would you recommend just a Bjorn one, or a real big hiking one? Advice needed!