I Only Travel with a Carry-On, and This Lightweight Tote Bag Is the Best I’ve Tried

Traveling solely with a carry-on bag is a puzzle I’ve long enjoyed solving. I’ve bought packing cubes for clothes and reusable snack bags for toiletries, and learned how to winnow my favorite outfits and items down to the essential few. But I’ll tell you an obstacle that often eluded me in the process: the personal item — a small, secondary bag that fits under the seat in front of you during a flight.

The secondary bag can be a backpack or a duffel for more space, or a crossbody bag or canvas tote for more minimalist packers, but both ends of the spectrum leave something to be desired. To travel well without checking a bag, it’s best to find a secondary one that feels like it enhances your efficiency. After years of making do, I finally found a personal item-size bag that’s the best of both worlds: Lo & Son’s Catalina Deluxe Tote. Aside from being spacious yet compact, this bag is sturdy, timeless, and sure to keep me organized for years to come. 

Back in 2010, founder Helen Lo was a retired wife and mom who traveled frequently with her husband — and he insisted on only using carry-on bags. The problem? Lo had back issues, so every bag she took brought pain and stress. After trying many different options that didn’t meet her wish list of being lightweight, stylish, and functional, Lo, alongside her two children, started Lo & Sons to try and meet her needs.

Much like Lo, I travel internationally and have physical limitations. I also can’t help but try to be stylish, so I’m also concerned with bags that are too bulky, heavy, or blah. When I came across Lo & Sons, the Catalina Deluxe Tote seemed worthwhile: It’s a structured canvas tote bag that weighs just over 2 pounds and comes with shoulder straps and a crossbody strap (plus a sleeve to go over the top of a carry-on handle). The main compartment has pockets on either side, plus a padded insert for more structure on the bottom. And there’s a key leash on the interior to keep that tiny necessity from getting lost.

My favorite detail is the separate zippered compartment on the base of the bag, which you can remove, and is intended for storing everything from extra shoes to dirty clothes. The bag comes in 17 colorways, and I chose the deep navy option to hide dirt. In all, it’s a very functional bag that is quite photogenic, too. 

I took this tote from my home in Los Angeles on flights to NYC and then San Francisco this summer, and I could tell as soon as I boarded that this bag was an upgrade from my previous bulky backpack and duffle. For starters, it slid easily beneath my seat with enough room to move my feet around comfortably. 

In the main compartment, I was able to store a paperback, two magazines, all of my toiletries and makeup, snacks, and a separate purse (the Lo & Sons Waverly 2, which is just the right size for running around cities without weighing you down). The bag was full, but it wasn’t bulky or difficult to zip. In fact, the bag somehow made all that stuff seem manageable. 

In the secondary compartment, I fit two pairs of flats and a cane, with room to spare. I didn’t have any trouble carrying this bag, and it always fit snuggly on top of my carry-on without sliding off — even with the items stashed in the secondary compartment. It felt like I had a bag that finally did it all, and looked good in the process. After a handful of flights with it, I’m ready to take it on so many more. 

Buy: Lo & Son’s Catalina Deluxe Tote, $123