Insights :: Nomad Travel Bag

by Catherine Baecker-Khoury, February 14, 2013

Whether you travel for business or pleasure, there’s no denying that a good travel bag goes a long way to making your journey as convenient as possible. Since we know many of our readers travel a lot, we’re always keen to share interesting new discoveries in the travel carry category as we become aware of them. One such recent discovery is the Nomad Travel Bag, created for Mandarina Duck by designer Daniel Valsesia. Valsesia’s design experience extends to the likes of softgoods, luggage and business bags. We got some insight from the designer himself on the origins of the Nomad Travel Bag…

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This project started because I wanted to create something that could be substituted for cabin-size wheeled luggage. I think there are a lot of people that don’t like using wheeled luggage because that method of carry is noisy (wheels rolling along the ground are noisy), plus it’s far from your body (when you travel, you want to keep your bag as close as possible). Also in terms of style, it can be difficult to easily match such luggage with your clothing style.

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I think people can travel easily with the Nomad. It takes up the same amount of space as cabin-size luggage allowances and it’s easy to carry in all situations, from indoor to offroad environments. This bag also has a big expansion system in the back that doubles the volume.

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There are two separate compartments that can hold different kinds of stuff. The bag offers internal organization for the likes of computer cables and other small items. In addition, elastic straps keep your clothes orderly and compression straps enable you to compress or enlarge the bag as required.

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If you’re into handles you’re spoiled for choice with this bag, as there’s a handle on almost every side. The material used for this bag is synthetic leather to make this product accessible to more people (with real leather the cost would grow too much!).

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It’s important to note we haven’t tested this bag ourselves (it would be cool to get comments from anyone who has though) but it appears to offer some nice versatility, both in style and use. The accessibility options look good, with the front (or top, depending on how you look at it) two zips for quick-access items and the clamshell design of the main compartment for other items. Strap end retainers keep things looking tidy, and the numerous handles in combination with the shoulder straps provide flexible portability. Plus the Nomad has a backpack/duffel design that can transition from everyday use to travel use, with a casual-chic vibe that is suitable for business or leisure use.

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The lack of a padded laptop/tech item pocket is a potential drawback, although you could overcome this by storing your tech gear in protective sleeves. A chest strap addition could also be useful, especially when dashing to catch a plane or train with a heavy load on your back (or just for general use when you’re lugging a lot of stuff around). Overall though, the Nomad Travel Bag looks like a stylish, solid addition to the world of travel carry.