best travel bags

Traveling smart and traveling stylishly can sometimes feel like conflicting notions. Now that I’m fully sold on the idea of traveling with carry-on only (a recurring theme on this blog, I know!), it seems I’m forever looking for ways to condense what I carry without leaving all of my favourite things at home. Shoes are always a problem but somehow I manage. Bags are the other challenge. I know the saying goes, “When in doubt, leave it out”, but I’m a bigger fan of finding a way to stuff it in! If you’re faced with the same dilemma when it comes to bags, here’s what I travel with:

{1} Longhaul Scorpius Hard Rollercase
I bought this little guy at Marks & Spencer on a trip to London last year. I needed to replace the one I’d arrived with and found this in an unlikely shop. But it has become my favourite carry-on suitcase. I love its hard body. I thought it might be inflexible and difficult to really stuff, but that’s not the case. It’s far roomier than I had expected and the four wheels … why has it taken so long for us to figure out that suitcases need four wheel drive? It moves so easily and smoothly. I can push it through the airport with just one finger. And sometimes I do. Just because I can.

{2} Longchamp Le Pliage Bag
I recently wrote about Longchamp’s Le Pliage bag but it’s back on my list for its enduring form and function. It’s a great travel tote but its best quality is that it folds into an envelope shape making it enormously packable. I would never leave home without this.

{3} Louis Vuitton Neverfull in Damier
This recent (and I know, extravagant! I hope my fiance doesn’t read this blog) Merry-Christmas-to-me purchase became a fast favourite. Louis Vuitton’s Neverfull in Damier is a great carry-on bag not only because of its obvious style but because of its sheer size. It’s a tote-style bag so if you need compartments, this isn’t the bag for you. But so far, I haven’t found that to be a drawback. It’s roomy enough to fit my laptop, Kobo, makeup bag and wallet as well as all the other odds and ends that seem to end up in there. But the bag is built to hold up to 300 lbs (yikes!) so as long as you can lift it, fill ‘er up!

{4} Radley London Pocket Bag
I found this crossbody bag at Radley London in, you guessed it, London. It’s the perfect day-bag for sightseeing days when you just need to carry a few essentials with you. But even more importantly, it’s so flat, it’s easy to throw into a carry-on suitcase without taking up much room.

{5} Mesh Fold Over Clutch
This mesh fold-over clutch continues with my theme of flat bags. My sister gave this to me for Christmas and it’s now my go-to evening bag when I travel. Chic and stylish, this is another bag that won’t hog all the room in my suitcase … room I need for other essentials!

What are your favourite bags to travel with?