This is the best tote bag for travel. Durable, spacious, and packed with pockets.
Although Baggu is popularly known for their reusable and conveniently portable grocery bags, their product line in simple silhouettes and fun colors has expanded exponentially since their humble beginnings in 2007. The often limited-time-only prints keeps me checking their website regularly, and the idea of ‘brand loyalty’ is finally something I can understand after decades of being on this earth.
While their offerings have stretched into socks, towels, hats and blankets, their variety of bags are always the products that I find myself coming back to and I have a staggering, embarrassingly large collection of their bags in all shapes, styles and colors.
After a recent visit to their brick and mortar store in LA, I left empty handed and thought to myself that perhaps I had finally gotten my fill on all things Baggu.
And then came the Cloud Carry-On Bag.
This machine washable bag is made of heavyweight nylon and measures 13 ¾” H × 19 ¼” W × 7 ½” L. It has a trolley sleeve to slip onto a suitcase handle, and the most prized features for me are the 4 deep and oversized pockets on the front and sides to carry my books and water bottles- anything you need quick access to without being precious enough that warrants a zipper enclosure.
Like their original grocery bag design, this bag can be packed down for convenience and portability.
A zippered pouch about the size of an iPad snaps to the inside of the bag and becomes the carrying case for the tote if need be, although I left it snapped inside and housed my power bank and charging cables. The two-way zipper on the bag extends all the way to either side of the bag, not just the top, thus ensuring wide–mouthed access for maximum stuffing capability and zipper-opening variability.
As my main gripe about most bags is their too-short straps, the Cloud Carry-On is a winner as the straps are long and padded, safeguarding your shoulders from painful digging and keeps the bag out of your armpit even when amply packed.
The design of this bag is impressive as the carry straps actually wrap around the entirety of the bag, basically creating a sling with the vestibule of the bag sewn within the straps. Another winning feature that I only noticed after buying the bag was a large zippered pocket along the trolley sleeve side of the bag, perfect for housing a laptop or magazines.
Although still in my early voyages, I have so far been very satisfied with the capacity and design of this bag. The deep slip pockets and the long straps have made this bag my go-to travel bag, and I was impressed on a recent flight that I could store the tote upright under the seat in front of me, making it convenient to grab anything I needed without fussing, rotating and spilling all the contents onto the floor. I’ve already purchased this bag as birthday gifts for friends I am looking forward to the other prints and colors that will be released in the coming seasons.
