I have come to realize that I when I am a tourist at a tourist location, there are a bunch of tourists around me. So I do not really care if I look like a tourist, because it is obvious they don’t , and I want to be comfortable. Cross bodies are comfortable. And I know I look like an old lady, but I am an old lady!
Of course I do still try to look like an old lady with some style and pizazz. So I care about how I look but also care about comfort and practicality.
I use this pacsafe in black. It is super light and will easily hold phone, passport, wallet and a candy bar! It says 2" deep, but the purse is actually flat unless you stuff it. http://www.travelsmith.com/pacsafe-slingsafe-100-gii-shoulder-bag/529020
i also bring this additional bag depending on what I am up to that day. It does measure 2 inches deep and will hold much more. Both are extremely lightweight, I tend to enjoy using this one versus the first one I listed as it is simply more practical for all my wares. However it does present with a bulkier look. http://www.travelsmith.com/pacsafe-citysafe-cs150-crossbody-shoulder-bag/808650
My fav was my Tumi Tech, but the bag empty weighs a ton.
I’ve had two of these, and love them. http://www.amazon.com/The-Sak-Iris-Cross-Body/dp/B002E1AYZE Big enough for a full day of touring a city, and comfortable. Leather in a cross body does not look like tourist, at least in France and I didn’t feel out of place in Asia last fall either.
I just got a nice Baggalini cross body at TJ Max, and liked it a lot for my west coast trip this spring. Though those might look a little too American tourist overseas for my needs.
“My fav was my Tumi Tech, but the bag empty weighs a ton.”
I love nylon totes because they solve the issue - they are lightweight. I have a large Tumi tote that I use as a carryon. I use the PNP (purse-in-purse) approach to packing it: a smaller Longchamp tote goes inside it (in case I need to carry more than what my wallet on a chain can hold), and money, cc, passes, and passports go inside the WOC (it can be hidden in the tote (for plane boarding purposes) or carried cross body).
I have a Scott’s travel vest/jacket (the sleeves can zip off. I don’t need a purse and the pockets are all zippered and most inside the jacket to prevent pick pockets.
Baggalini for sure. I have a backpack style purse with a lovely hidden pocket that I like but have stopped using because (a) pickpockets don’t know about the secret pocket and keep trying to open the main compartment and I’m getting sick of my safety pin security system, and (b) museum security increasingly sees it as a backpack rather than a purse and they make me take it off. Middle aged cross body bagger club, here I come!
Cole Haan has a good selection of cross-body bags in fun colors at very reasonable prices. The quality is pretty high. I like the small ones.
I walked around Mumbai today, getting leered at by men on the street (apparently my light brown / dark blonde hair and fair skin color make me exotic) and given some of the encounters, I’m good with my cross body travel wallet. I typically sling it over a blouse but under a cardigan or jacket and my hand naturally rests on it. It’s already pretty evident I’m not a native! I had three different people come up to me on Julu Beach wanting their picture taken with me! I’m not THAT good looking, lol!
Say YES to crossbody!!! Unless you like totes. I don’t think the type of bag makes a bag “old” looking, it’s the styling. Both of my girls ages 17 and 26 who are quite fashionable (not trendy) own several crossbody bags.
I prefer having both hands free and not having to busy one hand with a tote. But PERSONAL PREFERENCE!!!
Ugh, Mumbai… We got detained in the airport for 26 hrs because S1 had an expired transit visa. I hate that place.
I’m going with a small leather cross body purse by Hobo. But I’ll put the passport into a zip up inside pocket or an underclothing security pouch. The credit cards will be in an inside purse zip up pocket.
On a day of sightseeing, I’m taking very little besides a camera.
The heavy guidebooks will be left in the hotel. So will the phone. I know I will look like a tourist anyway what with all the gawking I’ll be doing, ha. The most important thing is to be comfortable and not have extra weight wearing out my arm. So no tote. Been there, done that. With a tote there is the temptation to take the guidebook and to pick up more stuff to carry around, brochures and the like.
When traveling abroad I put my cards and money in a rack trap theracktrap.com and have any sort of bag for the doodads, I can leave it in a car or not, but always have my money and credit cards safely stowed.
Somemom- that looks like a great item. I use a much smaller silk bra credit card holder when I travel but it is only good for a small amount.
I like a nylon bag when I travel due to weight. I also prefer crossbody since it frees up my hands. I have bags by Baggallini that I have found at TJMaxx. Fossil also makes some more fashionable crossbody bags. I have had my eye on a Marc Jacobs nylon crossbody for travel. I also like nylon since we bareboat sailboat charter and the nylon doesn’t get ruined if I get salt water on it. Crossbody helps for keeping my two hands free for getting on and off boat and not losing my purse into the ocean.
Nordstroms is price matching quite a number of nylon crossbody bags right now including the Tumi referenced earlier. They also have a Longchamps crossbody on sale.
This may be too small for me, but I love this one: http://www.amazon.com/Kipling-Eldorado-Small-Shoulder-Bag/dp/B002ECF1AQ
For me, it fits my Kindle (voyage), phone, camera, a small notebook, keys, headphones, credit cards (I don’t carry a wallet).
I also don’t carry my regular wallet when I travel. I leave much of what is in my larger wallet at home and bring a small wallet with just what I need for travel.
I also have a small wallet on a string from REI that can be used as a wallet or fits cross body if you don’t want to bring a whole purse.It fits my passport and money. What I like is that it has a few separate areas where I can separate my different currencies.
Thanks for all the comments/suggestions so far, this is a great discussion! I have a couple days off and plan to check them all out and do some more online browsing. Like several of you, I always use a backpack as a carryon and also subscribe to the small cross body or around the neck and under the shirt or jacket mini bag theory so you can keep valuables safe and divided up. I have a couple Baggalini bags, just not sure i really like the straps on either for a longer trip. I’ve also gotten paranoid reading about RFID protection and slash-proof this and that!
Any photographers out there who carry a REAL camera–not huge but not a phone by any means. Whats your go to bag? Do you put it in a larger purse? Carry the camera bag?
Does that rack trap stay put? Is there anything to keep it from moving around?
Camera is usually carried on a wrist strap in a quick-release pouch. My next camera will be carried in an old-fashioned case with a neck strap, kind of like this one:
I’ve got a telephoto lens on my camera so it isn’t flat. It’s LIGHT (compared to the old cameras) and I have a fairly small camera case which presently I’ve doubled for purse use. But traveling over seas I was hoping to not be SO obvious carrying the camera case around.