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As a Canadian transplant in New York, flying home to Toronto involves one hour of air time and bringing as little luggage as I possibly can. When you go home for three-day chunks it feels a bit pointless to bog yourself down with extra fees and prolonged airport waits by checking luggage. Think of my hour flight to Canada like a two hour train ride to Philly, Boston, Portland — you get the point.
Review: The Internet-Famous Solgaard Carry-On Closet
TikTok loves it, but how does it hold up in the real world?When I do travel, I despise bringing a regular old duffel bag (which I have done in dire situations). They’re too flimsy, for one, and crumple all your belongings into a disorganized mess. I also hate checking a carry-on size suitcase — I’m often traveling via prop plane so my carry-on never actually fits in the overhead compartment. That leaves me with a very narrow window of options as far as travel gear goes, with all roads leading to Rome weekender bags. Most brands have them – think Béis, Bespoke Post, Calpak and the list goes on!
Weekender bags are great because they have a little more structure to them, something a plain old duffel does not (and usually a few more pockets too). They’re a good half-way luggage point between flimsy fabric and a chunky checked suitcase.
Now, I recently received a very suave leather weekender bag from Satchel and Page. The brand itself emanates distinguished gentlemen vibes, and if the phrase “manners maketh man“ mean anything to you — you’ll know exactly what I mean.
Satchel & Page offers a variety of Italian leather goods ranging from said Weekender Bag to jackets, wallets, belts — you name it. It’s a family-run company, and their verified vegetable leather is produced in Ponte a Egola, Italy, while their HQ is here in New York.
I’ve taken their Weekender Bag on few trips home now and only have good things to say about it. First and foremost, it fits airline carry-on size requirements. I’ve placed it overhead but it’s also been able to fit underneath the airplane seat in front of me (a win). The interior is structured so you can pile clothes in neatly — or go the less chaotic route of using packing cubes. It’ll fit a few outfits, an additional pair of shoes and one to two books. The bag’s exterior pocket has designated compartments for your laptop passport, chargers, headphones, wallet — really, anything you’d need to grab quickly.
Outside of the obvious two handles, it comes with a cross-body strap attachment that’s just pliable enough to prevent any shoulder chaffing. So if you’re taking public transport to the airport — you don’t have to worry about lugging it — it’ll sit very nicely at your hip in an unobtrusive way.
Now, my one concern with this bag was scratching it up. I have a small obsession with keeping things as pristine as they were the day I got them — and overhead airplane compartments and lovely Italian leather don’t seem like a match made to last. That being said, Satchel & Page took this into consideration. According to their site, your bag is meant to build character and patina over time, so that it becomes “uniquely yours”. I suppose that’s a nice way of saying that these bags are meant to garner scars from trips abroad.
All in all, it’s a lovely bag that has a timeless look to it — the antique brass hardware and tanned finish make sure of this. We’ve linked it down below if you’re looking to get one yourself — but you can check out the rest of Satchel & Page’s pieces here.
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