Biz Travel Basics: My Favorite Laptop Tote Purse With Long Handles

December 9, 2019

laptop tote purse,work tote with laptop sleeve

I don’t talk about work travel explicitly all that often, because I tend to kind of seamlessly blend personal and work trips as needed, and my travel style is fairly similar for both. But the fact is that there are certain types of gear that I need specifically for work travel (like this tiny suitcase for overnight trips!), and sometimes it’s hard to find the right one.

So once I do, I want to share it with y’all in case other people have the same problem. And one of the things I had the most trouble finding was a good large work tote with a laptop sleeve. I tried every combination of searches and looked on all sorts of sites, but was basically looking for something I called a “laptop tote purse”.

I needed something that could double as both laptop bag and purse…
…and when I say “purse”, I mean actually hold most of the things my purse holds. Glasses, prescription sunglasses, cords, pill bag, chapstick, phone, Kindle, etc.
I knew I wanted it to have a laptop sleeve, but it also had to be able to hold the laptop power cord and my work notebook (which my co-workers jokingly call a bible due to its size)
It needed long shoulder straps…I totally HATE it when I can’t easily get my bag on my shoulder
And it needed to not look dumb

Just a note before we dive in—I don’t work directly with any of these brands, but I may make a small affiliate commission from any Amazon sales that come through clicks from my links (which I greatly appreciate, and at no extra cost to you). All opinions are, as always, completely my own!

It took forever, but I finally found one and have been using this bag for a few years now. I present the Jenni Chan laptop tote purse! You can see this navy and white one here. This is the one I have currently. Right now they have this red and black one too. They change colors and patterns from time to time…my old one (before it died) was black with big pink polka dots.

What do I love about this bag (beyond the fact that it ticks all my “boxes” bulleted above)?

The fabric is super durable and water-resistant but doesn’t look cheap.
It’s well-made, including the strap fastenings that can take a LOT of abuse.
It can hold an insane amount of stuff, and has lots of different-sized pockets for easy organization.
It has a zipper to completely close it, making it easy to store in an overhead compartment or tip on its side to go through security.

You might also like: 15+ Of The Best Tips For Avoiding (& Surviving) Air Travel Woes

So hopefully this helps you if you’ve been looking for this type of carry-on personal item. This type of purse work tote with laptop sleeve seems to be a unicorn for some weird reason, but I’m so happy I’ve found this one! If you have some big ones like this that you love, hit me up in the comments below.

Other travel gear I swear by:

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