Travel Bags

Travel bags have one job: make moving from one place to another easier.

That sounds simple, but the wrong bag becomes annoying surprisingly quickly. Too many compartments, awkward access, uncomfortable straps, or just far more volume than you actually need.

Our Travel Bags are selected around the way we actually travel. Weekends away, flights, road trips, train journeys and trips where city and outdoor use start to overlap.

Sometimes that means a backpack. Sometimes a duffel. Sometimes something in between.

Backpack or travel bag?

If you expect to carry your luggage for any real amount of time, a backpack usually makes sense.

Weight on two shoulders is simply easier when you are walking through an airport, changing trains or heading across town to your accommodation.

A more traditional travel bag or duffel gives you easier access and often makes packing clothes much simpler.

There is no right answer.

If most of your journey involves walking, start with one of our Backpacks.

If the bag mostly moves between car, train, airport and hotel, a Duffel Bag can be the better tool.

Easy access matters

A hiking backpack is designed around carrying.

A good travel bag needs to think about access too.

When you are travelling, you regularly need something from the middle of the bag: another layer, headphones, passport, charger or that one T-shirt you somehow packed underneath everything else.

A wide or clamshell-style opening can make a huge difference.

It lets you pack more like a suitcase while keeping the portability of a soft bag.

That becomes especially useful when you are living out of the same bag for several days.

Carry-on or checked luggage?

We prefer travelling with as little as we can get away with.

Not because minimal packing is some sort of achievement, but because every extra kilo eventually has to be moved somewhere.

For shorter trips, a well-sized carry-on bag is often enough.

Just remember that airline limits are based on external dimensions, not only litres. A 40-litre bag is not automatically cabin luggage on every airline.

If you regularly fly, check the dimensions against the airlines you use most before deciding.

For longer trips, larger luggage makes sense, but even then we prefer a bag with a clear layout rather than simply choosing as much volume as possible.

Travel backpacks

Travel backpacks sit in a useful middle ground.

They carry like a backpack but often open more like luggage.

That makes them good for trips where you are moving around frequently rather than staying in one place.

Good shoulder straps become important once the bag is full. So does the shape of the back panel.

A bag that feels fine while empty in the shop can become a completely different object with ten kilos inside it.

That is why we pay attention to carrying comfort just as much as the internal layout.

Explore our full Backpacks collection for more options.

Duffels for travel

There is still a lot to like about a simple duffel.

They swallow awkward gear easily, they are quick to pack and there is usually very little wasted space.

For snowboard trips in particular, we use them all the time.

Boots, outerwear, layers and everything else can simply go into one large compartment.

The downside is obvious too: a heavy duffel is much less pleasant to carry over distance.

Models with backpack straps help, but if you know you will be walking a lot, we would still consider a proper backpack.

See all Duffel Bags.

Keep the small stuff separate

A small second bag makes travelling much easier.

Phone, wallet, passport, sunglasses and earbuds do not need to disappear into the bottom of your main luggage every time you move.

That is why we often travel with a Hip Pack alongside a backpack or duffel.

It gives you quick access while travelling and becomes your everyday bag once the larger luggage stays at the hotel.

Simple, but very useful.

Don't buy litres you don't need

More space sounds useful until you have to carry it.

For a weekend, a smaller travel bag often forces you to pack what you actually use.

For longer trips, additional volume becomes more sensible, particularly when you need extra footwear, winter clothing or outdoor gear.

But we would still choose the smallest bag that comfortably works for the trip.

A half-empty 70-litre bag is rarely better than a well-packed 40-litre one.

Organisation without overdoing it

Some organisation is useful.

A laptop compartment, a place for documents and maybe a separate area for smaller items can make travelling much easier.

But there is a point where organisation turns into clutter.

We do not need twelve tiny pockets for twelve tiny objects.

A few well-placed compartments combined with a large usable main space usually works better.

Packing cubes can deal with the rest.

Built for more than the airport

We prefer travel gear that still has a purpose once you arrive.

A backpack you can use for a day outside.

A duffel that works for the gym or a snowboard weekend.

A hip pack you can wear around town.

That versatility is one of the things we look for when selecting bags for Behind The Pines.

Your travel bag should not have to spend eleven months of the year in a cupboard.

Travel Bags at Behind The Pines

Explore our travel bags online, including Backpacks, Duffel Bags and Hip Packs.

Or visit Behind The Pines in Amsterdam if you want to compare capacity, access and carrying comfort before deciding.