Away Everywhere Bag Review

Sometimes, the inspiration to get up and take a trip strikes from nowhere. When that happens, there’s only one thing to do: grab your bag and go. That’s what the Away Everywhere Bag is best for. It’s the ideal size for hauling clothing to the beach while being professional enough for office use. Though the “Everywhere” in the name is a bit overzealous, the classy styling, organization, and overall functionality really cover a lot of bases.

Duffles are, at their core, simple bags you can pack with a lot of gear, but ones like the Everywhere Bag show that there’s room to differentiate. Let’s check it out!

External Components

If there’s anything Away excels at, it’s nailing the aesthetics. The Everywhere Bag has a water-resistant nylon shell that looks very classy because of the pastel green colorway. It looks a lot darker in Away’s images, but it’s lighter in person. Under the right lighting and to the touch, the fabric is slick. Away doesn’t specify what kind of treatment or coating they’ve applied, though we’re confident it’s some sort of TPU coating.

Regardless, the fabric survived our everyday testing. We didn’t do anything crazy like take it hiking or rucking. However, the absence of loose threads and perfectly functioning zippers after two weeks of hauling it between overnight stays is reassurance enough; it’ll handle flights and overhead bins just fine, too. That said, the two leather strips underneath that prevent the bottom fabric from scraping? We understand the intention, but now we just feel bad scraping the leather. Plus, they’re very low-profile and spaced very far apart, so the fabric still has plenty of room to bottom out.

Truth be told, the Everywhere Bag’s exterior is very typical for the brand, with a clear emphasis on aesthetics over practicality. There are no daisy chains or accessory straps for attaching yoga mats or shoes, nor do the tote-style leather handles have padded cladding for additional comfort. But hey, some users don’t want or need the total practically that you’d get from the likes of the Patagonia Black Hole Duffel or The North Face Base Camp Voyager. This one’s more for those who want a duffle to take to the office, the gym, and a resort—all on the same day—without looking uncouth.

However, we appreciate the few external features the Everywhere Bag has. At the back is a luggage pass-through that’s cleanly integrated into the fabric. It’s a handy feature to have if you’re planning to take this bag on longer trips and are also taking rolling luggage. A crossbody shoulder strap also comes included that clips onto metal loops located diagonally across each other on either side. Whereas the leather tote handles are very minimal (read: not comfortable for long periods of carrying), we’re quite pleased with how thick this strap is.

It also has a decently cushioned sliding shoulder pad. Away didn’t go overboard by putting really thick padding, but they didn’t really have to. The low-profile design fits the minimalist aesthetic they’re going for while still dulling the bag’s overall heft.

Fit Notes

We found the low-profile shoulder pad to be just the right size. It’s not so long that it creates a stiff overarching bulk over your shoulder. At the same time, it’s wide enough to effectively spread the bag’s weight. However, no matter how good the strap is, there’s no hiding how chunky the Everywhere Bag is.

Though its layout and organization (which we’ll discuss in detail in the next section) make it somewhat tempting to treat the Everywhere Bag like a messenger bag, it’s way too big for that. In turn, carrying it at your side or in front of you feels too cumbersome. In other words, the Everywhere Bag is undeniably a duffle bag (big surprise, we know) that feels most at home slung to the back. But hey, at least it’ll sit there comfortably, thanks to its strap.

Inside The Duffle

It may not be immediately obvious, but the Everywhere Bag does have a front pocket. Nestled between the tote handles’ leather accents is a zippered pocket, obscured by a fabric welt. This isn’t something new; we’ve seen countless bags employ the same design for a more sleek look. However, this pocket’s opening is surprisingly tight, to the point that we have a hard time plucking the zipper pull out. It also doesn’t help that there’s just enough cavity on either end where the zipper pull can accidentally tuck into.

Ironically, since this pocket’s opening is so tight, we don’t really find the need to zip it. For most of our testing, we’ve treated it as an open-top pocket, perfect for quickly stashing a smartphone, slim wallet, and keys. Keep in mind that the liner might soak rain and dirt if you use it this way, which is perfectly understandable since Away probably never intended this use case.

We’re really digging the laptop compartment at the back of the Everywhere Bag. It makes access very easy since we don’t have to dig through the rest of our gear just to take the laptop out. Moreover, this is an explicit separation between the laptop and gear that might be dirty, moist, or potentially damaging. For protection, there’s some padding on the outer side and substantial padding along the compartment’s floor that goes all the way to the bag’s base. To be clear, Away isn’t pioneering a separate compartment for a laptop on a duffle bag. Duffles like the Aer Weekender and Bellroy Flightbag both have one, and those are just two examples among many we’ve seen.

Of particular note on accessing the Everywhere Bag’s main compartment are the tote handles and how they’re seemingly in the way. We assumed this would get annoying, having to push them away each time we had to take out gear. Then we thought back to all those times we tested a duffle with handles that always stayed down because they didn’t have a clasp. In that sense, we prefer stiffer handles like these that somewhat stay upright since they’re easier to grab.

The main compartment’s opening is very packing-friendly since both sides spread really far apart, limited only by fabric gussets on either end. It’s a very effective design if the goal is to ensure users don’t feel obstructed when inserting large packing cubes and pouches. On the other hand, having this wide of an opening can be deceiving, as it also lets you pack more than what can fit. Just keep this in mind, otherwise you’ll be struggling when the time comes to close the bag.

In terms of capacity, we can to pack for weekend trips, including a pair of pants, four tops, nightwear, two sets of underwear, plus a toiletry pouch. This is all on top of our everyday carry items such as a laptop, notebook, and an 18-ounce insulated water bottle. For organizing, one side has a water bottle pocket and a drop pocket wide enough for a notebook. On the opposite side are twin liner pockets adjacent to a rear zippered pocket. However, despite the number of pockets inside and a long key leash that’s tempting to use, we’re hesitant to utilize everything.

Simply put, the Everywhere Bag tends to sag once it’s empty. We notice this when we take gear out of the main space while leaving gear inside the pockets. The sides begin to cave in, hindering access to the rest of the main compartment. It’s a weird quirk since the bag’s materials are relatively thick and rigid, though having that much space at the center is also a factor.