During my journey through Spain I have had the opportunity to try out a new bag from TRAVELON – The Anti Theft Classic Plus Tour Bag. Prior to my departure for Spain I wrote regarding various details and specifications of the bag. (Pre-trip review) Now that I have traveled with this bag for a month – it’s time for some follow up.
The Classic Plus has lots of room and holds just about anything a traveler would want for the typical day exploring a new city or location. The expandable side pockets have worked great for water bottles, umbrella, and a small camera on various occasions. If I wanted to have my iPad along ( in the sometimes unrealized hope that I would have some time to write ), the padded interior pocket worked well and provided good protection.
The Classic Plus has multiple pockets, enclosures and locations which can be used for all sorts of things from passports to tickets to receipts. (They also provide RFID protection – a nice security feature.) In fact, there are so many different locations and pockets that I suggest you spend a bit of time planning their use and then practice using the bag for awhile. I find it helps to develop a routine so that certain things are always located in certain places. That makes it much easier to find the item you need quickly. It’s no fun to be looking everywhere for the car park ticket when there is a line of cars waiting behind you!
The size of the Classic Plus is really good in many ways. It is relatively small despite the amount of items it will carry. As a result you can often visit various locations such as museums (or as I did today – the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona) without having to check the bag before entering – a problem if you are carrying a small back pack for example. It is also easy to carry with the long and padded strap and it doesn’t get in the way when engaged in activities such as photography.
The Classic Plus is made of a very good looking yet sturdy and durable material. It has held up well despite encounters with rain, taxi and train interiors, and being stuffed inside my larger carry on sized backpack at times. The colors work as well, not really showing dirt or dust from three weeks on the road.
The only negative that I’ve personally encountered with the Classic Plus is one dimension of it’s size. The height (10.5 in ) and width (9 in) worked really well. The depth (3 in) however proved to be a bit tight for me. As a photographer I’m inclined to carry lots of stuff such as lenses, filters, strobes, etc. And as a writer I have my iPad and paper and pens and also a small audio recorder that travels with me. When you add these items to the various more standard travel accessories – well it got a bit tight for me as I said. But that’s me – I carry lots of stuff. For the typical traveler I imagine this would really not be an issue.
Overall I really like this bag. It’s good looking and highly functional. I anticipate it will be traveling with me for many miles to come.
A Great Bag For Travel ……… Enjoy The Adventure!
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(Full Disclosure: While Travelon provided this bag for testing, as always, the opinions and comments offered are mine alone.)