I find the smallish over-the-shoulder bag a great tool in my work.  All of the pens, papers, and other somewhat bulky items I need are now in this handy bag, rather than in pockets that bulge and wear out.  This one is the fourth one I've tried, and shows that the designers of the bags have paid attention to the weaknesses of their other products.

All of the Travelon bags have been well-designed, with lots of pockets, compartments, and neat stuff like a mini-flashlight.  The basic problems I encountered have been addressed with this new one.

1. Cell phones had to be in a pocket inside the bags.  This bag has a cell phone pocket on the outside, on the strap, readily accessible.
2. Previous bags had weaknesses in the seams after some use, and I had to sew them.  The worst spot was the seam holding the strap to the bag.  This critical point of stress did not hold up well.  The new leather bag is designed so that the connection to the bag is composed of  very wide sections of leather, which reduces the stress on any one point.  Hopefully it will hold up much better than others.
3. The synthetic materials of previous bags would wear on the edges and corners.  This leather bag should not wear as soon and also is designed without the rolled edge that shows wear very quickly.

Time will tell if some of these improvements really help, but so far, I am happy with this bag.