"I travel for business a lot, and have developed a sort of checklist. This tote meets and exceeds all of them. It zips closed, has multiple outer pockets for quick retrieval of items when needed. They are along the front, so everything does not sink to the bottom - when everything sinks to the bottom a purse starts looking like a mini duffel bag. The inside partitions are perfectly sized, leaving room for anything else you might need to put in it - I think even a laptop would fit if it needed to.."