I have a tendency to shop a lot when I travel—home decor, clothing, gifts for any upcoming holiday—regardless of how small my suitcase is. Of course, some items have required a bit of creativity (see: The 5x8 Peruvian rug in my bedroom or the stack of Oaxacan black clay dishes in my kitchen), but for the most part, one trick has helped me get all my finds home, safe and sound: The fold-up duffel.
Here's how it works: You grab a lightweight, carry-on size duffel, shove it in your suitcase and, should you stumble upon a souvenir you want to bring home, you break out the bag to hold your loot. You'll probably have to check your existing carry-on, but in my experience, you can often get away with calling the duffel a personal item—soft luggage always plays to your favor. (If not, some finds are worth the $25 checked baggage fee.) Packing an empty duffel bag has become as natural as grabbing my neck pillow before a flight. Even when I haven’t gone hog wild on, say, vintage batik button-downs in Bali (true story), I’ve ended up using my duffel for something: Separating laundry on a trip, accommodating a mysteriously overflowing suitcase, or holding a heavy winter coat while traveling between hemispheres. Having a fold-up duffel has never been an inconvenience to bring on trips; it's only been a lifesaver.
When I received the Paravel Fold-Up Bag for Christmas, I knew exactly what I'd use it for—and not just because I had an upcoming trip to Havana and needed to decorate my new apartment. It's the polished, grown-up version of every other duffel I’ve relied on for years. The material is a silky nylon that is thin but durable; the strap, wide enough to comfortably sit on my shoulder, doesn’t curl or dig in under the weight of a full load. The bag itself is incredibly light at 14 ounces, but it still has thoughtful details like a sleeve for sliding over your roll-aboard handles and multiple zippered pockets. When expanded, it measures 18 x 11 x 11.5 inches, making it a carry-on destined for the overhead bin when it’s full, but easy to squeeze under the seat in front of me when it’s not. Plus, when the bag is folded up and zipped shut, it’s a chic little package that I can easily fit in my suitcase. My only gripe is that the bottom of the duffel becomes the outside of the folded version—if it’s touched an airport floor, I don’t want it touching the clothes in my suitcase—but my workaround has been packing it in the outer pocket of my carry-on or storing it in a thin fabric pouch, like a shoe bag.
Four months and just as many trips later, I've become fully committed to the Paravel bag while my heavier, older duffels gather dust under my bed. I’ve used it to cart home everything from a collection of Buena Vista Social Club records I found on that jaunt to Cuba to a pantry’s worth of French snacks bought in Martinique. It's also held up as my go-to weekender bag. I can easily fit two pairs of shoes, three days’ worth of clothes, and my dopp kit in it, and it’s so much easier to tote around than bulkier weekenders I own. Even better? The brand just launched a new version of the bag made entirely of recycled plastic water bottles. Now you can feel even better about using it—an estimated 22 bottles were upcycled into this new model.
Sure, I may need to cut back on my shopping habit, but this lightweight fold-up duffel might be my healthiest obsession yet.
Buy Now: Paravel Fold-Up Bag and Fold-Up Bag (Negative Nylon), $65 at tourparavel.com
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