About

Made for travelers, by travelers.

Tortuga was founded by two childhood best friends—Fred and Jeremy—after a backpacking trip to Europe in 2009.

We flew into Frankfurt then visited Prague, Budapest, and Hvar, Croatia. The trip was a blast, but our luggage was a disaster. Jeremy’s shoulder strap ripped off on the first day, and Fred’s giant hiking backpack was a disorganized mess. That trip taught us how hard it is to travel with the wrong gear.

We couldn’t find the perfect travel backpack. So we made it.

Tortuga’s mission is to make travel easier.

Here’s what that means to us.

Packing light. Packing light means less physical and mental baggage. With the right gear, you’ll breeze through security on your way into the airport and walk right past baggage claim on your way out. You’ll never worry about your bag and never pay baggage fees.

Scratching our own itch. We started Tortuga to make the bag we wanted to carry. Over a decade later, we’re still solving problems for our fellow travelers and for ourselves.

Working remotely. Tortuga is a small business. Our team of travelers works remotely and lives all over the world. We believe that sharing a mission is more important than sharing an office.

Paying it forward. When you buy a Tortuga backpack, you help young people travel abroad, often for the first time. Your purchase supports youth travel by funding the Tortuga Study Abroad Scholarship and gap year grants in partnership with the Gap Year Association.

Packing isn’t the fun part of traveling. We’ll take care of it so you can focus on having a great trip. Start by checking out our travel backpacks.