I have two North Face bags, a couple no-name bags and some minor designer bags. My suggestion is to go with a Filson or an Osprey bag. I use my NF bags mostly for hunting to haul around a few candy bars and some water. They have a great name and some of their stuff is really good, but I haven't bought a new NF bag in many years. I have friends who backpacked throughout Europe on one of their 60L bags, but that's bigger than you want.
I suggest either a Kelty, a Mountain Hardware or a Osprey pack. I have a Mountain Hardware I use for weeklong hostelling and it does the job without attracting attention or screaming "Pick me, I'm worth stealing".
C