how to find a cheap beach bag

The $2 Beach Bag

[trip style = sun + beach + all-inclusive + cruise]

Bagging the right beach bag is key to traveling light and in style. It took me over a year to find the perfect one: my fold-flat navy and white striped Baggu, but recently I found a close second that rung up as $2 at the till.

I didn't mean to be disloyal to my tried-and-tested Baggu, but in a moment of last-minute packing desperation {at 11pm before a 3.45am wake-up for a recent flight to Maui}, the cute, already-in-my-purse and virtually weightless $2 bag shown above and below won. It helps that it matches my favoured beach cover-up. After highly successful debut in Maui, the $2 bag came with me to Puerto Vallarta last weekend as well.

Will I give up my trusty Baggu for the cheap and weightless thrill that is my newest travel obsession? Not a chance, but when space is limited and cutting down on even the slightest bulk is helpful, the cheapie bag will be my travel BFF.

Buying A $2 Beach Bag I purchased my bag{s} at Daiso, the two-storey Japanese you-didn't-know-you-even-needed-that store that sells everything from water dumbbells to fako iPhone cords to collapsible dog bowls. Located in Richmond, BC {near the Vancouver Airport}, plan to spend an afternoon because 10 minutes won't cut it. You have to uncover its weird and wonderful wares in hefty time chunks, and while you're at it, grab a bubble tea. {I wish this pic showed more of the bags, but there were some cool prints. I got the upper and mid left red and blue bags. No Daiso or like stores in your area? A) you'll have to visit Vancouver, or B) bag a bag online.

Mah-jor Disclaimer Though the bags are lightweight and have the general-ish shape {NOT PATTERN} of a grocery tote, I'm not suggesting you interpret my advice as "I'm just going to bring my President's Choice or Trader Joe's grocery sack on vacation." No grocery bags allowed for travel!!! Finding the right beach/plane-to-pool bag takes time, so I'm just giving you a variety of options and ideas along the way.

Related How To Bag A Beach Bag Fashion Friday :: Life's A Beach

[photos by @tripstyler]