Hands On With Voyager, A Wi-Fi-Enabled Leather Travel Bag

As someone who travels a lot, I’ve always struggled with finding the perfect bag. Anything with wheels is clunky, duffel bags always mix up my clothes and gadgets, and backpacks make me look like I’m still in middle school.

Enter Voyager, a bag made by This is Ground, a handmade leather goods company based in downtown Los Angeles. Their bag is stylish like a briefcase, roomy like a duffel, and organizes gadgets like my nerdy old backpack. Better yet, it comes with a Karma Go WiFi device, essentially making it a traveling hotspot.

After just returning from a weekend trip where I had a chance to take Voyager for a spin, I can safely say that it’s as functional as promised.

The bag, which is a foot tall and 16.5 inches long, has two separate zippered sections. The main compartment can fit a pretty good deal of stuff – about a weekend’s worth of clothes and one or two pairs of shoes. The side pocket, which houses the Wi-Fi device, has partitions for a phone, battery pack, a plethora of charging cords, and basically any other small gadget you can throw in there.

Voyager comes in a variety of colors, including Bomber, Navy, Cognac, French Grey, and Charcoal. While I only got to play with one, it was made of extremely high-quality leather, the type that you can smell before you even pick up the bag. It also has handles and a shoulder strap, which allows it to be casually thrown over the shoulder or held like a briefcase.

As mentioned, the WiFi is powered via a device from Karma, a pay as you go network with coverage in over 400 U.S cities.

While I first thought the Wi-Fi dongle was a bit gimmicky, a two-hour delay on the tarmac with a charged laptop but dead cell phone quickly changed my mind. That being said, a phone with a tethering plan will probably suffice in most cases, and the bag can be bought without the Karma integration.

Voyager will go on sale on November 2nd and retail for $725 without the WiFi device, and $925 with. While slightly pricy, Voyager is sure to get a ton of compliments, and might just become your new favorite bag.