Bellroy’s New Travel Backpack Hides an Ingenious Feature That’s Perfect for Airports

Bellroy made an already-great travel bag even better with the Venture Travel Pack.

bellroy travel backpack with its top pocket opened

Published June 5, 2024

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Updated June 7, 2024

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Like most people, I love to travel. Also, like most people, I agree that the act of traveling is generally awful. Exploring a new destination, experiencing a new culture, trying new foods, meeting new people … all wonderful. But packing a suitcase, hustling through an airport and being crammed onto an airplane? All generally terrible.

So, any product that promises to make the traveling experience more tolerable has my undivided attention. Bellroy’s latest travel backpack is one such product, as it’s absolutely loaded with features to both make packing easier and make the journey itself less stressful — particularly at the airport.

Bellroy Venture Travel Pack 26L

$329 at Bellroy

Two Bags in One

Bellroy’s new bag is the Venture Travel Pack, a travel-focused version of its versatile Venture Ready Pack. The carry-on bag is packed to the brim (no pun intended) with features that make it perfect for travelers, which I’ll get into in a minute. But first, let’s talk about what I consider to be this bag’s flagship feature.

Hidden away in its own dedicated pocket on the front of the bag is a separate, lightweight tote bag. This second bag securely zips shut and has a 15L capacity, making it perfect for stocking up on snacks, drinks, magazines, travel accessories and whatever else you find yourself needing to pick up once you’ve made it through airport security.

The bag can be carried separately as a tote, or better yet, it can be clipped securely to to the exterior of the backpack, essentially turning the 26L bag into a supersized 41L piece of luggage that can easily be carried on your back.

I’m still counting it as my allotted personal item.

They Thought of Everything

The two-in-one design is probably the most unique thing about Bellroy’s Venture Travel Pack, but it’s far from the only travel-ready feature.

The exterior of the bag features a “Brain Pocket” on top, which is designed to keep small travel necessities like pens and glasses neatly organized and easily accessible.

bellroy backpack interior pocket — An inner passport pocket is both hidden and RFID-protected for safety.

There’s also a hidden side pocket with an interior key hook, so you’ll always remember where you packed your keys (Am I the only one with this problem?) and a large zippered water bottle pocket that’s big enough for refillable travel bottles.

The backpack fully opens in clamshell fashion, making it easy to pack and unpack. The interior gives you plenty of options for organization with a padded 16-inch laptop sleeve and a hidden RFID-protected pocket to keep your passport safe. Several stretchy zippered pockets and compression straps give you even more storage options for your trip.

Bellroy backpack being slid onto a roller suitcase handle — Pass-through luggage straps allow you to slide the backpack onto your roller suitcase.

Finally — and I consider this a must-have on any travel bag — there are luggage pass-through straps on the rear of the bag that allow you to slide it over the handle of your roller suitcase. I don’t know about you, but I tend to overstuff my backpack when traveling and prefer to keep it off my back whenever possible.

Pricing and Availability

The Bellroy Venture Travel Pack 26L is available now in black, water-resistant Element Coated Nylon directly from Bellroy and retails for $329.

That’s admittedly pricey, putting the bag ahead of our favorite carry-on backpacks from the likes of Peak Design ($300 for 45L) and Aer ($249 for 35L).

We’ve yet to get hands-on with Bellroy’s new bag, so we’re not ready to endorse it over those other bags, but its feature set does look compelling … and it’s easily the best-looking of the three, IMO.

Bellroy Venture Travel Pack 26L

A carry-on version of Bellroy’s everyday Venture Ready Pack, the Venture Travel Pack is packed with travel-ready features like a luggage pass-through straps, an RFID-protected passport pocket and even a hidden removable tote for overflow.