I have been hunting on the internet to replace the beautiful burgundy wine colour messenger bag I 'lost' in Singapore. Since nobody has tried to return my bag, and the majority of Singaporeans are so honest, and return wallets left behind on public places such as buses, I presume it has been stolen.
What was so special about the bag? The colour co-ordinated with all my burgundy clothes. A warm red, good for daytime instead of funereal black. The fabric was wipe-clean. Being fabric, it was light to carry. It held a lot, well organised in several pockets. And it was expandable. So it could lie flat, hidden under a voluminous swing style coat or jacket, or be expanded to hold a book, camera, whatever.
I originally bought the bag from Scotts of Stow. I searched for them on the internet and the bag is still available, but only coloured stone (off-white) or black. This choice of colours may suit you. One of each should carry you through winter and summer, or day and night, without clashing with any other colours. Black and white is great for bags which co-ordinate with all your winter black or winter white, or daytime white and evening black, or white at night if you want to be visible to motorists when crossing the road. However, if you tire easily and are lifted by red, or already have a bright red bag or two, and want a more refined plummy colour, alas, no burgundy, yet. I'm still hunting rival bags.
What about the maker? The brand is Travelon, T r a v e l o n (I have to spell it out in case a spell checker changes it again) which is American. I had hoped that Scotts of Stow had selected just the best -selling colours and the manufacturer still offered more colours. Unluckily for me, their website does not show my bag in the burgundy colour.
I hunted for the design on Amazon. On Amazon you can find a similar bag in a subtle steel blue.
The Travelog site in America lists their worldwide suppliers. In the UK they listed Scotts of Stow, and Lakeland - I visited their Watford branch and they had no such bag.
I found lots of magic words which kept me busy searching on. I tried wine and burgundy. Wine brings up too many bottles of wine so I had to drop that word.
I also tried purple bag. I found eggplant. Lots of red bags.
I searched for leather bags, (eliminating faux leather, and those which claim to be leather, but with faux leather trims).
My next search was for fabric, and nylon bags.
Then I tried expandable bags. I found another word, convertible bags. That led me to bags which can expand, with bottle holders, and bag with a torch and many zips, and bags which can be carried like a handbag or made into a shoulder bag with a strap, or turned into a rucksack to wear on your back, and a backpack with wheels.
I also looked for wheel on bags and suitcases with four wheels.
Other interesting brands included: Fantasy; Rick Steve; Rick Steves' Civita Tote; Mother Lode; TLS.
ebay.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
liebeskind real leather bags
R2u anti-theft underarm bag
Ryanair suitcase trolley bags
Suvelle Slouch multi-pocket organisers
travelonbags.com
lakeland
Messenger bags I looked at were in the range of £13-£50. Those from the USA had varying postage to the UK, some as high as £30, plus import duties of as high as £15, and some would not deliver outside the USA, or not to Singapore and other specified countries.
Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer and photographer, speaker.
What was so special about the bag? The colour co-ordinated with all my burgundy clothes. A warm red, good for daytime instead of funereal black. The fabric was wipe-clean. Being fabric, it was light to carry. It held a lot, well organised in several pockets. And it was expandable. So it could lie flat, hidden under a voluminous swing style coat or jacket, or be expanded to hold a book, camera, whatever.
I originally bought the bag from Scotts of Stow. I searched for them on the internet and the bag is still available, but only coloured stone (off-white) or black. This choice of colours may suit you. One of each should carry you through winter and summer, or day and night, without clashing with any other colours. Black and white is great for bags which co-ordinate with all your winter black or winter white, or daytime white and evening black, or white at night if you want to be visible to motorists when crossing the road. However, if you tire easily and are lifted by red, or already have a bright red bag or two, and want a more refined plummy colour, alas, no burgundy, yet. I'm still hunting rival bags.
What about the maker? The brand is Travelon, T r a v e l o n (I have to spell it out in case a spell checker changes it again) which is American. I had hoped that Scotts of Stow had selected just the best -selling colours and the manufacturer still offered more colours. Unluckily for me, their website does not show my bag in the burgundy colour.
I hunted for the design on Amazon. On Amazon you can find a similar bag in a subtle steel blue.
The Travelog site in America lists their worldwide suppliers. In the UK they listed Scotts of Stow, and Lakeland - I visited their Watford branch and they had no such bag.
I found lots of magic words which kept me busy searching on. I tried wine and burgundy. Wine brings up too many bottles of wine so I had to drop that word.
I also tried purple bag. I found eggplant. Lots of red bags.
I searched for leather bags, (eliminating faux leather, and those which claim to be leather, but with faux leather trims).
My next search was for fabric, and nylon bags.
Then I tried expandable bags. I found another word, convertible bags. That led me to bags which can expand, with bottle holders, and bag with a torch and many zips, and bags which can be carried like a handbag or made into a shoulder bag with a strap, or turned into a rucksack to wear on your back, and a backpack with wheels.
I also looked for wheel on bags and suitcases with four wheels.
Other interesting brands included: Fantasy; Rick Steve; Rick Steves' Civita Tote; Mother Lode; TLS.
ebay.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.com
liebeskind real leather bags
R2u anti-theft underarm bag
Ryanair suitcase trolley bags
Suvelle Slouch multi-pocket organisers
travelonbags.com
lakeland
Messenger bags I looked at were in the range of £13-£50. Those from the USA had varying postage to the UK, some as high as £30, plus import duties of as high as £15, and some would not deliver outside the USA, or not to Singapore and other specified countries.
Angela Lansbury, author, travel writer and photographer, speaker.
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