Early on when planning my trip I decided I didn’t want to be lugging around a huge two week suitcase or toppling all over trying to keep a rucksack under control. I was going to travel light, keep no more than a week’s clothes, and look for places to do laundry or buy cheap replacements as I went. Formal wear, if needed, could be hired, and if I needed an expensive outfit I’d buy it and add it to my semi-permanent roster.

I found exactly what I was after when searching for leather bags: Thomas Lyte’s range was well made enough to last a round the world trip, looked good to me, and best of all I could get one in bright yellow. No more squinting at the luggage carousel!

I ended up getting a leather weekender bag and a leather despatch bag, the latter being one of the best purchases I made when planning the trip. The despatch bag takes my laptop, a paperback and a packed lunch perfectly, and has been with me almost every step of the way.

Leather Despatch Bag

The weekender bag, while lovely, didn’t turn out to be quite so successful. While it fits more than a weekend’s worth of clothes it turned out doing laundry or clothes shopping each week was more than I could stand. A more capacious replacement came in within a few weeks, almost as well made, but unfortunately nowhere near as easy to spot after deboarding.