You never know when you might need more bag in your bag—that’s my perennial travel advice on one of my favorite travel products: tiny totes.
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Totes are a deceptively powerful item to bring with you when you travel abroad.
Need a bag to do a bit of grocery shopping? Take the tote.
Accidentally bought more souvenirs than you can bring back for your journey home? Stuff them into the tote and take them on the plane.
Looking for a place to put your dirty laundry instead of the floor? Straight into the tote!
A travel tote is basically your Swiss Army travel knife.
At least, the collapsible, barely-there variety. A bulky, fashion-forward tote is nothing but a heavy liability. My advice pertains to those synthetic-fabric totes that fold up into the size of a Kleenex.
Ready to revolutionize your packing list? A collapsible tote will make a huge impact. Start with one of my top picks, listed below.
Best collapsible tote brands for easy travel packing
SYZY Travel Tote
Billed as the ‘world’s most compact tote bag’, this SYZY travel tote folds up into a tiny bundle that will fit in your palm. Despite its mini size, it packs a solid bunch, offering two straps for dynamic carrying, reinforced stitching that will carry up to 60 pounds in weight, and a quick-twist lock to make sure it doesn’t re-inflate.
On top of that, this travel tote is slightly larger than others, letting you take your packing needs to the next level.
Baggu
Baggu runs on recycled nylon, and nylon will fold up into a compact shape pretty easily. At Baggu, you can pick between a few different sizes and shapes for their nylon bags with the assurance that they’ll fold up nicely.
However, the Standard Baggu is my first pick. It’s a standard tote that comes in a range of gorgeous prints, ready to be balled up and tossed into another bag whenever you please. I have regularly used Baggu for tiny-tote-travel purposes for around a decade; they’re made to last, y’all.
Junes
The Junes Everyday Tote isn’t just a teeny-tiny, travel-ready tote—it’s also made from Bio-Knit, which is a sustainable fabric… unlike other options on this list. That knit makes this ideal for beach trips, as sand is easier to clean out of a semi-porous bag.
Plus, it comes with inner pockets that make storing items a bit easier. The cherry on top? It’s machine washable.
If I wasn’t already deeply entrenched in the World of Baggu, I’d go for one of Junes’ collapsible totes.
Nanobag
Looking for an XL solution? The Nanobag is one of the newest barely-there totes making a splash. Despite its large size, the straps have additional reinforcement, meaning you can actually stuff this XL option to its capacity without worrying about tears.
There’s also a ‘sling’ option for anyone who prefers a cross-body bag; it’s also pretty sleek and fashionable.
