This sponsored post is brought to you by Away.
Lately, Away has been introducing a range of personal items from garment bags to its newest additions, the Backpack and Daypack. You need more than a suitcase sometimes.
The Daypack targets travelers that are focused on the core essentials for a long day out. From biking around Boston all day long to schlepping off to Amsterdam for a quick meeting, the Daypack aims to provide all the daily office essentials without missing a beat.
In fact, you may never have to leave the office, if you pack right! (It'd work as well for a quick city or small hiking trek, but really, leave the laptop at home.)
Admittedly, we are not consultants but this is a bag that not only looks the part, it practically plays the part. Besides, we are on the road so much that sometimes we feel like one. What better way to celebrate the holidays than a bag that will also fly between EWR < -> ORD 3-5 times a week?
Professional and durable, with a touch of leather.
The Daypack is primarily made of a nylon and polyurethane blend,2 and, it's an admirable choice because it's a tough, durable fabric that can withstand the elements, from rain to random coffee spills (don't ask how we know that). This makes it much easier to clean with soap, or with whatever cleaning products are available to hand.
This is in sharp contrast to the Everlane Twill Snap backpack, which is an unwaxed canvas and needs to be spot cleaned with a lint brush. The Everlane is a dainty thing.
To elevate the Daypack, leather accents are adorned around the top bag handle, and the bottom of the backpack strap enclosures. It is basically slim and inconspicuous enough to hide behind a conference table during a board meeting.
On the inside, its filled with a universal gray liner, so the color contrast-important for finding things quickly and easily-can really depend on the exterior color.
More or less, it is made of the exact same materials for Away's Everywhere bag.
Features, compartmentalization, and all that jazz. 🖐️
Perhaps where the Daypack stands apart is the level of compartmentalization and organization from other backpacks on the market, though that does seem to be a trend that seems to be changing, and for the better.
In the front compartment, there are three pockets. There's the interior "cabin" if you will, as well as a square-ish zip pocket for valuables, measuring approximately 8 inches high by 7 inches wide. On the outside of the zip pocket, there's a small mesh compartment perfect for stashing a phone, wallet, portable battery pack or a small odd and end like a chapstick.
The mesh pocket happens to be one of our favs, as its a relatively snug and secure pocket, preventing the object from falling out or rolling around, while providing easy access to whatever is needed immediately. (Like, great for slinging the backpack over, unzipping the front, and then grabbing whatever you need.)
The main "cabin" or compartment is broken up into two sides. On the side closest to the front of the bag, there's also another zip pocket measuring approximately 8 inches high by 7 inches wide. There's also an open pocket on measuring 5.5 inches high by 7 inches wide, for a wallet, notebook or something like that. In particular, this seemed like a great place to fit and accommodate an Amazon Kindle.
There's also a key strap along the top left corner of this pocket. It can be somewhat hidden, but there is some wish here that they had moved the key strap to the front pocket: there is simply too much that can be happening on the inside of the main compartment for it to get lost, despite best intentions.
On the opposite side, is of course, the star of the show compartments aka the laptop compartment. It fit our Apple Macbook Air 11.6-inch laptop just fine, with the interior cushioned pocket fitting up to 13" laptop. In theory, it'd be able to accommodate any device that measures around 9 inches wide by 15 inches high.
There was plenty of room around the exterior of the laptop, allowing us to fit the laptop in a padded sleeve plus some work documents, notebooks and case studies (yuck!).
There's also a small left mesh pocket, which holds a laptop charger well, and a right side pocket that fits an iPad Mini just fine. Like we needed more devices!
Of course, there's the lauded luggage strap that is featured on all of Away's personal bags. For backpacks, the luggage strap seems like a convenient way to go hands-free for a while, though using the, ahem, backpack straps can achieve the same effect. Hands-free, all the time!
How does the Daypack fare for day trips?
The Daypack is pretty much situated to fit what somebody needs for, well, the day. The bag's capacity clocks in at 11.6 L, which has almost 45% more capacity than the côte&ciel and Everlane entrants into the backpack category. Those backpacks come in at 7 and 8 L in capacity, respectively. Its actually surprising, given the Daypack's slim profile.
If the côte&ciel and Everlane are all about the minimalist necessities for the work day, the Daypack is the minimalist necessities + a few extras for the road. (For instance, when you're hopping down to Boston from New York for the day.)
It also turns out we needed quite a bit. Here's what we stashed into the bag.
- Apple Macbook Air 11.6-inch (with and without sleeve)
- iPad Mini 2
- Amazon Kindle Paperwhite
- Google Pixel
- Canon D5000 DSLR camera
- Portable battery pack
- Notebook, work documents and pen
- Lunch (a bag of chocolates, basically, with granola, sprinkled for "healthiness")
- Muji thermos bottle
- Scarf, gloves, chapstick, moisturizer
- Keys
- Wallet
- Full toiletry set (in case, we needed an overnight stay.)
In other words, it got heavy.
In fact, it's possible to do a quick overnight stay with this bag if you really want to push extreme packing to the limit. That does require ditching one of the bulky items like the thermos or camera we mentioned up top, though.
The Daypack essentially offers more than ample space to fit in all the necessities for a looong day of work.
