For months now, I’ve been looking for the perfect bag for my ‘gear’.

I was looking for an alternative to the typical camera bag, a stylish alternative, if you would.

I find that the typical camera bag is either bulky, ugly or screams “rob me; I have thousands of dollars worth of equipment in here”. Most of these camera bags are geared towards professional photographers, and most of the ones for consumer use are a weird triangular shape or looks like a bucket.

I’m going on vacation on Saturday and I’m bringing with me; my camera (with lens attached) and two other smaller lenses.

I don’t want to carry two bags; I want a bag/case that fits inside my (large) hand bag.

Like I said, I spent months looking for the perfect bag. It became a bit of an obsession, I looked and looked desperately. I’d sneak away in the afternoons browsing shops. I looked in seedy places. I couldn’t tell anyone because even I knew I was being ridiculous.

I googled “alternative to camera bags” and ‘met’ thousands of people like me. Most of the alternatives suggested were messenger bags.

I learnt about luxury camera bags like the Billingham and the Brady Bags.

I considered getting a cosmetic bag, I actually got a cosmetic bag, I hated it but my camera and lenses fit.

About a week ago I went to camera shop at Aberdeen Centre and saw the Lowepro Terraclime 100.

It wasn’t love at first sight; it’s still a messenger bag – what had me looking was the padded wrap it comes with.

It’s also eco-conscious, made of recycled PET bottles, a portion of sales of each bag goes to Polar Bear International.

It’s spacious enough for my camera, an extra 50mm lens and my wallet.

I don’t mind carrying my stuff in it if I’m going somewhere specifically to take pictures. It comes in green, black and plum, I chose green.

I like it so far after several days of light use; I guess we’ll see how it performs on vacation. I’ve used the wrap more often than the actual bag.