SUSAN'S FAVORITE TRAVEL BAG

These are photos of a Mother Load Bag that I made for myself. I made the quilted panels originally for a jacket and then decided I was too hot (not in a good way) to wear a quilted jacket, so I turned them into a Mother Load Bag.

This has turned out to be my favorite travel bag. The six-pocket panel on the dotted side works great to carry all the stuff I need to take on the plane with me: passport, boarding pass, gum, mints, paperback book, head phones, inflatable pillow, etc. I put in a Ziploc bag of the 1-ounce bottles I need to have with me - hand sanitizer, hand lotion, chap stick, etc. I take a fairly large travel case of medications. That goes in the bottom. I place some organizing bags (thank you, Bat-It Designs2) of other stuff I need to have. A magazine or 2 will stand up along the side. There is room left over on top for a rolled polar fleece or windbreaker jacket.

When I get to my seat, I can place the bag on the floor in an upright position and slide it under the seat ahead. It's soft enough to sort of squish and tuck under there. Then, during the flight, if I need something, I can easily slide the bag forward with my foot, and grab what ever I need because I can see everything and I don't have to fuss with a zipper or snap. Most times I never even lift it off the floor until the flight is over. (Here's another little tip: Put your money, i.d., credit cards in a Lite http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=42084213 .
Put the Lite in one of the pockets. If you need to leave your seat to use the restroom, just pull that out, drape it over your shoulder, and you can leave the other bag under the seat.)

The straps are comfortable for a shoulder bag, but when I'm moving about the airport, I place the straps around the pull-out handle of my wheeled carry on and grab both the handle and the straps with the pulling hand. The base of the bag rests on the top of the wheeled bag and I have one hand free to carry a cup of coffee. Of course, I have pulled the Bag-It Designs 2 Coffee Cuff from the pocket of my bag and I'm set to go!

Give it a try - I think you'll like it.
Go to http://www.bagitdesigns.etsy.com and put "Mother Load Bag" in the search.