Forty years of weekends away, and this is the only bag anyone has ever asked me about
Forty years of weekends away, and this is the only bag anyone has ever asked me about
Six things the Wildvana does that no weekend bag of mine ever managed, from a woman who has never reviewed luggage in her life.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never once sat down to write about a bag. What I have done is pack for forty years of weekends away, out of holdalls that sagged, little cases that scuffed, and one wheeled contraption my husband still will not mention. So this is not a review. It is a woman who was wrong about a bag, owning up.
The one I am writing about is called the Wildvana, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly making ordinary things a bit lovelier for women our age for a few years now. I first spotted it on the luggage rack of a coach to Skegness, and when the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, as long as I could be completely honest in it.
A quilted bag with a camper van driving across it, peace sign and all, under a stitched orange sunset. On a coach to Skegness. Read on.
Here is what forty years of packing taught me. Weekend bags come in two piles. The sensible pile, black nylon holdalls that sag in the middle and all look the same on a luggage rack, which is how somebody else ends up with your nightie. And the smart pile, stiff little cases that scuff the first time out, weigh a tonne before you have put a thing in them, and hold less than they promise.
Saggy and forgettable, or stiff and heavy. Those were my choices, and I had done my years in both.
The Wildvana is the first bag I have owned that is neither, and after one coach trip, two trains and an overnight at my daughter's, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The day it came. I was expecting a flimsy novelty. I had changed my mind before I had the tissue off.
It does not look like luggage
It looks like somewhere nice to be going. The whole scene is quilted and stitched right round the bag: the camper van with a peace sign on its nose, an orange sunset in the windows, daisies, little toadstools, pine trees and purple mountains. On a rack full of black holdalls it is the only bag anybody smiles at, and the only one nobody picks up by mistake.
The van up close. It was the peace sign on the nose that won me over.
Three women asked about it on the platform at Grantham. My husband spotted me by the bag. Nobody has ever asked about a bag of mine before.
Jean C., NewarkIt holds a proper weekend
Two outfits, spare shoes, a wash bag, a paperback and the cardigan I always say I will not need. It all goes in without a fight, and the wide opening means I can see everything at once instead of digging for it. Packing has stopped being the worst part of going away.
Took it for three nights in the Peak District. Everything went in, walking boots too, and I could find all of it.
Margaret D., SouthwellThe quilting is the clever bit
It is soft on the outside, so it squashes onto a coach rack or under a train seat without complaint, then springs back to shape looking none the worse. And the soft padded quilting means what is inside travels gently. My reading glasses have survived two trips they would never have survived in the old holdall.
Squashed it onto the rack all the way to St Pancras. It came out looking better than I did.
Dorothy F., MansfieldEven the handles are pretty
The straps run right round the body of the bag, so the weight is carried by the whole bag rather than a few stitches at the top, and they are covered in little embroidered daisies, so even the practical part is lovely to look at. They sit comfortably in the hand or over the arm, with nothing to dig in.
The daisy handles. Even the hard-working bits got dressed up.
Two honest sizes, with the measurements
The 40 centimetre one does an overnight, the gym, or a cabin bag. The 46 centimetre one does two or three days with room for shoes and a towel. The boutique prints the measurements plainly and even says most women are happier with the bigger one, which has been my experience of weekends and of life in general.
Went for the larger size on their advice and I am glad I did. You never wish a weekend bag were smaller.
Kathleen R., RetfordIt earns its keep between trips
This is the part I did not expect. It does the swimming baths on a Wednesday, the overnight at my daughter's, and last month it carried a little care parcel to my sister in hospital with far more cheer than the occasion deserved. The old holdall lived at the back of the wardrobe between outings. This one hardly gets put away.
Packed for a night at my daughter's. It took everything with room to spare.
The Wildvana, against the weekend bags you have been buying
You can find a weekend bag for thirty-odd pounds anywhere. I know, because I have a cupboard full of the evidence. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Black nylon that sags in the middle
The same as every other bag on the rack
Thin sides, everything rattles about
Handles that dig in before the car park
One vague size, no measurements
Soft quilting that springs back to shape
A stitched camper van nobody mistakes
Padded sides, so things travel gently
Wrap-round daisy handles, kind on the hand
Two honest sizes, measurements printed
About the price
The Wildvana is £32.95 for the 40 centimetre size and £35.95 for the 46, down from £66.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that they are made in batches, and once a batch has gone, it has gone. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with something, and three trips in I have not found it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real people rather than robots, so I kept reading. The same six things I have just walked you through come up again and again, in other women's words.
By the door, packed for the Lincoln Christmas market. The tartan rug is coming too.
If you have a coach trip, a weekend away, a Christmas visit or just a night at your daughter's anywhere in your future, and your current bag is a tired black holdall, this is the one I would put in your hands myself, while it is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
WILDVANA | Travel Duffle Bag
- Stitched camper van scene, quilted all over
- Holds a proper weekend without a fight
- Soft quilted sides that spring back to shape
- Wrap-round daisy handles, comfortable in the hand
- Two honest sizes: 40cm £32.95 · 46cm £35.95
- One of a whole collection of designs
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
Made in batches. Once a batch has gone, it has gone.