The Best Business Bags for Your Remote Work Lifestyle

Our guide to the best in remote working satchels, backpacks, & totes

Long gone are the days of having one desk at work with your laptop and work gear permanently set up like terracotta soldiers awaiting your arrival each day, takeaway cappuccino in hand. As a modern remote worker, flexibility is key as where you have to - and choose to - work from changes from day to day, and sometimes from hour to hour. From home office and corner cafe to flirtations with the office lifestyle of old, choose a satchel or tote which can easily carry all your work essentials - and one which you want to use rather than feel that you have to. Add a smile and some safari style to your everyday remote workday with our curated selection of satchels and totes.

Top 3 Things to Look for in a Business Bag Satchel, Backpack, or Tote for Remote Working

1. Functionality: The satchel or tote you choose needs to be practical and easy to pack and unpack. You will be setting up your desk at least once, if not more often, each day - and so this chore should be as quick and simple as possible. Aside from the advice in the point below, make sure your laptop and work hardware all fits in easily and that you have enough pockets - large and small - for work and personal effects. Clutter and tangle will add a layer of irritation to your work day and so keep your desk-in-a-bag neat and tidy and you will save time as you start, end, and go through your work day.
2. Style to make you smile: Choose a remote working satchel or tote which makes you smile each day when you see it and pick it up. Don't settle for average looks or design. Your remote working satchel is the closest thing to you all day - only your partner and morning coffee get any closer - so why not make it a bag you love?
3. Proven strength: You need a remote working satchel or tote which is strong enough to be - gently - flung around a bit. We say 'gently' as you do not want to damage your devices inside your business bag, but your bag should be able to handle the day-to-day opening and closing, sitting on a floor for hours, and bumping into walls with relative ease. While no bag is infallible, here our expedition tested™ range really does come into its own. Not only do we actually use our satchels, totes, and business bags for our own remote work - and often in far-flung, wild, and dusty locations, but we have expedition tested™ our bags to make sure they are a little stronger than the norm. Our range also has the best YKK zips as we know that zips are made to be opened and closed often. On poorly made bags, zips fail, rendering the entire bag useless - which is not great for the environmentalist in you as they surely then end up on a landfill site - or for your wallet.

Selecting the best Business Bag Satchels, Backpacks, or Totes for Remote Working

• Size counts: The first step is to work out the size of the biggest work device you have. This will usually be your laptop. Your laptop need to fit through the main zip of your business bag and the bag needs to be deep enough to enable you to zip your business bag closed. Use a ruler or tape measure to work out the length and width of your biggest work device. Depth usually does not come into it.
• The second step is to simply match the size of your laptop or biggest work device with the style of business bag you prefer below. Simple really.

Larger Business Bag Satchels, Backpacks, or Totes for Remote Working

Explorer Satchel
• Zip opening length: 350mm / 35 cm / 13.7 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 225mm / 22.5 cm / 8.8 inches
• Select from 3 colours
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Rufiji BLACK Satchel
• Zip opening length: 350mm/35 cm/13.7 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 225mm / 22.5 cm / 8.8 inches
• Classic styling in black
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Mara&Meru Companion
• Zip opening length: 400mm/40cm/15.7 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 290mm/29cm/11.4 inches
• All leather with handy inner pockets
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Mid-size Business Bag Satchels, Backpacks, or Totes for Remote Working

Pannier Bag Satchel in Canvas
• Zip opening length: 330mm/33cm/13 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 310mm/31cm/12.2 inches
• Attach to your bike and ride to where you want to remote work
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Pannier Bag Satchel in Leather
• Zip opening length: 330mm/33cm/13 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 310mm/31cm/12.2 inches
• Limited edition in deluxe leather
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Sandstorm Tote
• Zip opening length: 355mm/35cm/14 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 230mm/23cm/9 inches
• For more casual remote work days
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Mara&Meru 3-in-1 Satchel
• Zip opening length: 330mm/33cm/13 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 310mm/31cm/12.2 inches
• As used by Steve - see the main image
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Mara&Meru 4-in-1 Satchel
• Zip opening length: 340mm/34cm/13.3 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 300mm/30cm/11.8 inches
• Built as a camera bag, but perfect as a work bag - with added padding
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Mara&Meru Tote
• Zip opening length: 305mm/30cm/12 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 315mm/31cm/12.4 inches
• Casual workday style
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Smaller Business Bag Satchels, Backpacks, or Totes for Remote Working

Mara&Meru Selous Satchel
• Zip opening length: 185mm/18cm/7.2 inches
• Zip to bottom of bag depth: 210mm/21cm/8.2 inches
• Style your bag to match you day simply by switching flaps
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Extra tip for your Satchel, Backpack, or Tote for Remote Working

Get organised & use a tupperware lunch box. Yes, you read that correctly. Lunch boxes are for more than just ham sandwiches. With so many cables, external hard drives, banking code fobs, ear phones, and more in the modern work day, we find that packing them all neatly into a small lunch box tupperware keeps all your accessories neat, ordered, and better protected from bumps and spills. If you are an Apple device user, then you know the replacement cost of Apple laptop chargers and using a lunch box should lengthen the life of your charger - saving you extra cost in the long run.

On a personal note: mix up your remote working day to make sure personal relationships do not suffer

We are spending less and less time in the presence of colleagues at work and more and more time with family and friends as we work from home. As a friend once said during a lockdown chat, "You need to miss your partner a bit and working in the same house all day, all week, for months on end kind of takes the 'missing' element away". It seems the adage that "absence makes the heart grow fonder" has been forgotten of late. Mix & match your remote work day locations: Keep things at home with loved ones fresh by not always working from your home office, kitchen table, or hammock on the deck. Mix and match ideas include: Work half days from coffee shops; charge up your work devices - pop them in your business bag satchel or tote - pick up a chair and go for a walk to find a shady tree to work from; pop into the office and work for a half day from there; visit one of the many remote working shared space offices popping up. Use your imagination as, when you were office bound, I bet you wished you could work outside on a sunny day. Well, now you can, so enjoy it. Dress properly: Wearing your pyjamas or underpants all day may seem like a great idea now that you do not have to go into an office in respectable clothing, but do yourself - and those around you - a favour and dress up a bit each day, even if just in a causal shirt or trousers.