Welcome to Where Bloggers Live. “Where Bloggers Live” started out kind of like HGTV’s “Celebrities at Home,” but…with bloggers! We all like to peek behind the scenes and see inside people’s homes, interests, and lives, so every month this wonderful  group of seven bloggers family of amazing women shares their work-spaces, homes, towns, and thoughts, with posts based on specific prompts. It’s been so interesting over the years to see the different ways each of us interpret the topics.

Funny story: the “what’s in my bag” trend of oh so many years ago, is what first inspired Where Bloggers Live. I thought, that would be a fun series: what’s in my bag, what’s in my closet, what’s in my glove compartment, and it eventually turned into what’s in my closet, what’s in my town, what’s in my brain, what’s in my memory…and here we are, 5.5 years later and we’re finally getting to the initial inspiration!

Well. Count on me to never have a simple answer to anything. I don’t have just one bag. I have a purse, a camera bag, a school bag, and a travel bag, depending on where I’m going and what I’m doing on any particular day. Sometimes one bag has to serve all three functions. I hate those days cuz the bag gets too heavy.

I. Hate. Carrying. Things.

I don’t know how men do it. With carrying everything they need in a wallet that goes in their pocket. Where do they put their sunglasses, chapstick, handheld fan, camera, other camera, passport, hand moisturizer, cell phone, backup charger, book, etc??

I envy them that ability.

And no, I could not do that cuz I NEED all that stuff.

It was a little better when I still had a car, cuz a lot of things could live in the car and would go with me everywhere I went. Now I have to physically carry it all with me on foot. EVERYWHERE.

Okay, so.

First off, every bag must have a crossbody option. I repeat. Every. Bag. Must. Have. A. Crossbody. Option. A) I have terrible shoulder bag shoulders. They’re too sloping and shoulder bags just slide right off. B) I must have my hands free for the million things I’m always doing. Taking pictures. Navigating. Wiping off sweat.

Every bag must have multiple pockets, both in-and outside. Bonus points for a water bottle pocket. I need to be able to access my cell phone easily and swiftly, so some sort of reasonably secure, but easily accessible pocket is a necessity.

There must be at least one zipper pocket/compartment, for “valuables” – ID, credit cards, transportation cards, passport, etc.

Okay, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.

The Everyday Bag

This is for just running errands, going to an appointment, dinner with friends, etc. NOT when I’m going out to take pictures…or go to school…those activities have completely requirements…today I’m going to just do the everyday bag. You’re welcome.

When I take everything out like this it doesn’t look like all that stuff could fit in there! But it does.

Category 1 goes in an inside small pocket (except for the energy bar, that goes in a large interior pocket). I call this category “edibles.” Ha ha, not like THAT. Just the sugary, cough aid, protein fixes I carry with me at all time. Kopiko is a coffee candy (like a hard candy) that is a sponsor of almost every k-drama. And Korea uses a LOT of product placement in shows (especially Kopiko, Subway (the sandwich place) and what’s the expensive stick vacuum? That.) There’s usually a little tube (like the size of a chapstick) with Tylenol in it. I think things are still a little out of place from my trip to the US then staying at the hospital. I need to do a good sweep of all my bags this week in preparation for my quick trip (in a week!) to Japan.

And yes, today 3 comes after 1.

3. Paperwork (prescriptions, drug permissions, hospital paperwork, etc), passport (if needed, I usually leave it at home) this little journal, some wipes, a mask, and the newest addition, my little magnifier (which is a pita) all go in the large back outer pocket. And there’s usually a couple band-aids stuck in the pages of the little journal.

4. I mis-circled. The pens go in the large interior pocket with the energy bar. But lip things, earbuds, pony-tail holders and hair clips and a random tissue for nose blowing, all go in the second of the small interior pockets (next to the edibles). There’s also usually a small tape measure in this pocket but I don’t know where it went.

5. Larger things go in the main body of the bag: Japanese fan (a gift from tutor and friend when they went to Japan last year), vintage hankie (which sounds so dainty and ladylike, but I use it to mop up sweat from my always dripping face), and power bank cuz my phone battery dies mad fast when I’m out in the world. The newest edition to this section is the double eyeglass holder. I need my regular seeing glasses after dark…and since my recent eye issues I wear sunglasses on bright days cuz that eye is SO sensitive to light now). What is missing from this picture, something I carry on warm days, is my handheld fan, which is a life-saver here. I took a picture of the fan but it’s lost in cyberspace somewhere. It’s a nice one, not like the dollar store ones in the US. It actually has some power to it…and can be used as a spare cell phone charger. Oh! Also not pictured is my Tide to Go pen…I think that’s still in my school bookbag.

6. Cell phone goes in the front outer pocket for easy accessibility. Alone so it’s easy to grab without groping through a bunch of other things.

7. Cash, ID cards, cc cards go in that front outer zipper pocket you see. I never carry much cash. 10,000w is about $7. I just rarely need cash here. 99% of vendors/stores take credit/debit cards or some sort of payment, like ApplePay (which I keep meaning to setup but enough with the things to do already). That black Kuromi card is my T-money (transportation) card.

Nothing too crazy…just the usual stuff, pretty much. But I can’t imagine leaving home without every single thing pictured here! Is this more or less than you typically carry??

What’s in your wallet bag??

Take a look at my friends’ blogs as well, to see what they’re schlepping around!!

Daenel at Living Outside the Stacks
Em at Dust and Doghair
Iris at Iris’ Original Ramblings
Jodie at Jodie’s Touch of Style
Leslie at Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After
Sally at Within a World of My Own