First, I was really excited to find a packable bag that would fit into its pouch to fit into my luggage, then expand large enough to use at the beach on vacation. Unfortunately that claim is not completely true. It does squish down pretty small, but the padding in the straps & white seam running down the sides of the bag prevent it from fully fitting into the included zipper pouch, while also zipping closed. With that said, it's a hell of a bag. I used it as my carry on for 6 flights, and a beach bag all over Hawaii, spilled some coffee in it, dumped a bunch of sand out, washed it. It still looks like brand new. I love that I can fit towels in it & the pouch is big enough to keep all of my small items from falling into the deep abyss of the tote.