A Brooklyn-based travel editor has spent nearly two years taking the same bag on every weekend escape — beach runs to Montauk, hops around the Hudson Valley and Catskills, and ski weekends across the East Coast. The Caraa Portobello duffel has survived dozens of trips in that time, and her verdict, published as part of Condé Nast Traveler's annual Luggage Week, is that it's the ideal road trip companion.
What sets the Portobello apart from a standard rigid suitcase is its soft, pillowy build and cinched top. Rather than a fixed silhouette, the bag gathers at the opening, so its size flexes with what you've packed: full and structured for a long weekend, cinched down tight when you're travelling light. Being soft and collapsible also makes it easy to stash in a small city apartment between trips.
The comfort details earn repeated praise. Long shoulder straps sit comfortably over the arm — handy when hauling the bag out of a car trunk or into a hotel — and a button clasp joins them so you can grab and sling it in one motion. The cushioned exterior protects fragile contents like perfume bottles from the bumps of the back seat. After two years of heavy use, the bag has reportedly held its shape and texture, which matters when you're weighing up the splurge.
Practicality continues inside and out. The main compartment swallows roughly four days of clothes depending on the season, while a see-through interior pocket keeps small items — jewellery, makeup, undergarments — visible instead of lost at the bottom. Exterior water bottle holders give drinks a proper home on drives, a hidden trolley sleeve lets the bag perch on a suitcase as a flight personal item, and a dedicated exterior pocket keeps a passport to hand. The shell is water-resistant recycled nylon and machine washable, though the writer admits she hasn't tested that yet.
There are honest limits. On ski trips the editor packs a second bag, since the Portobello handles clothes and soft gear but not everything a full winter getaway demands. For a couple of nights by the beach or a few days upstate, though, she calls it the sweet spot: roomy enough to pack properly, flexible enough to squeeze into the car, and smart enough to carry from trunk to hotel lobby without looking like gym equipment.
For travellers, the takeaway is less about one specific bag and more about what makes a good road trip duffel: soft-sided flexibility, comfortable straps, a cinchable shape that adapts to your packing, and small touches — bottle pockets, a trolley sleeve, an exterior passport pocket — that smooth the drive-to-hotel routine. If your weekends involve trunk-to-hotel dashes rather than airport carousels, those are the features worth shopping for.
