Top 3 Duffel Bags for International Travel

Written by Shaun Swartz

Choosing a new bag for your travels does not have to be a nightmare.

At a minimum, your main bag should be functional, surprise you with its simultaneous simplicity and complexity (how did they make such a big bag fold down so small?!), and fashionable – because be honest, you know you want your bag to look cool too. Yes, the best carry-on duffel bags can be expensive, but purchasing a quality bag can be the make or break for your travels.

I recall learning this lesson all too vividly while passing through the LAX airport as a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed college kid on my way to study abroad in Australia. I had meticulously packed, unpacked, and repacked my bag in the days leading up to my departure, only to have my belongings recklessly scattered across the baggage claim floor before I had even seen my first kangaroo.

My bag was brand new when I purchased it two weeks prior, yet as I watched in slow motion as first a shoe, then a snorkeling mask, and finally a duct-taped, unrecognizable mass of my belongings came tumbling end-over-end down the belt, I realized that my bag had betrayed me. Either that or the chain of baggage handlers who had delicately ferried my bag to its destination had merely failed to notice a bag-mauling gremlin had attached itself to the underside of my bag. Surely it was an honest oversight.

In retrospect, I’m still uncertain as to what sort of karmic injustice I performed so early in life to deserve such a fate, but clearly the universe was speaking: do your homework when choosing a bag. Since then, I have learned how to identify the best duffel bags for travel. For the record, I now avoid the LAX airport at all costs as a result of the emotional trauma of trying to scramble together my belongings and find a bag an hour before getting on a plane to fly halfway around the world. Type II fun at its finest.

What Should I Look For When Purchasing A Bag?

These days I’m a little more judicious with my bag choices. Read on to discover which duffels I consider to be top-rated carry-on bags, and which features go into making a great duffel.

An obvious first requirement is that the bag does not, I repeat, NOT, have wheels. Try wheeling your bag through a muddy jungle during an Ecuador service trip or through the insanity of a Beijing train station and then tell me in which universe a wheeled-suitcase is a good idea. The second requirement for any bag to make it onto my list of the best duffel bags for travel is that it is foldable, lightweight, and compact when not in use. There is nothing worse than unpacking your bag on a cramped sailboat or in a shared hostel room only to realize that your bag does not pack down and now will be occupying the majority of your limited, precious cabin or floor space.

The third requirement for a top-rated carry-on bag is what I like to call the “Secret Agent Pocket.” This pocket should be easily accessible on either the bag’s exterior or inside the main flap and should not necessitate unpacking the entire bag to find important travel documents, pens, or the almighty chocolate bar that should be required accompaniment for every traveler on his or her journey.

Show me a bag that meets those simple requirements and I’ll show you a traveler who is poised to achieve in-transit enlightenment.

Bottom line: this bag truly is a marvel of the physical universe in its ability to bend time and space while storing nearly anything you throw in its gravitational field. I once got lost somewhere deep in the abyssal corners of my Black Hole bag in search of a charging converter, only to resurface famished and confused three days later with the bicycle from my childhood that I had not seen in years. With storage like that, it’s really no surprise that this bag made it onto my list of the best duffel bags for travel.

Bag preferences are obviously highly subjective, so visit your local outdoor retailer (REI, Camping World, etc…) to find a bag that fits both your body frame and your travel needs. Doing your own research into a bag is the best way to get an idea for what works for you; Open, close, and reopen the bag to test its zippers, practice loading and unloading random items in the bag a few times, and try the bag on both with and without weight. Be sure to check both the bag’s return policy AND its warranty. Any bag worth its salt will be backed by a solid warranty. The more critical you are with your decision, the more satisfied you will be with your bag in the long run.