This Is My Secret to an Organized Travel Bag

Travel bags can be a black hole; tangled cords and loose lip balm can cause cuts, defiance, and panic because your plane is boarding and you hope your boarding pass is at the bottom of it all. I say this purely hypothetically, as I have never known such confusion to exist.

At any given moment, my handbag is divided into three or four purse organizers, each of a different size and style, each filled with a different variety of essentials that have proven useful over the years to myself and anyone traveling with me – do I have extra eye drops for the dry cabin? Yes. An extra adapter? certainly. Chew ginger? Nausea sufferers, today is your lucky day. All of this is at my fingertips thanks to these gadgets that I have collected over the years and rely on daily. Not since the kangaroo have there been such staunch proponents of the pouch.

For travel, these are the equivalent of packing boxes in your wallet. Use them to restore order to your weekend bag or airplane personal belongings. For your work bag, they can be used to store everyday essentials you didn’t even know you needed: paracetamol for that 4pm headache, a bag of your favorite tea for a mid-morning pick-me-up, a lipstick and travel-size perfume bottle for a quick pick-me-up before happy hour. A mobile pharmacy with all your favorite things.

Using small bags as storage bags isn’t a revolutionary concept, but unlike most actual purchases, these are the joy of shopping. Most of my items are collected on my travels: hand-embroidered brocades, colorful linen stripes, and delicate beading all make great souvenirs (and great gifts, too). But you can also find plenty online, from smaller brands like Hawkins New York, Milinane and Autumn Sonata to luxury designer pieces like Prada and Celine. Ahead, we’ve found 24 stylish pouches in a variety of sizes to meet a variety of organizational needs, from long-distance travel to everyday carry.

Pocket size

This smallest size is perfect for storing lip balm, a pack of Listerine strips, a small mirror, and that’s about it. They’re perfect for throwing into a casual clutch or pouch for a night out, or depending on your type-A personality, use them as a sub-compartment for a larger pouch. For more flexibility, choose fabric; it’s not as rigid as leather, so it will provide a little wiggle room. Kate McLeod’s quilted styles or Prada’s nylon micro bags are both high on our list.