I actually bought this bag as a carry-on for travel. I love it! It has several internal pockets perfect for stashing ID, beauty products or whatever, one end of the bag has a shoe pocket (that expands into the interior of the bag) so you can keep your shoes away from your other items, the other end of the bag has a flat pocket excellent for storing slim profile items (I kept my snacks in there) and the front of the bag has a small pocket good for storing small documents such as airline tickets. It also has an external water bottle holder. The material is a heavy duty rip-stop material and the bag is very well constructed. It would make a fantastic gym bag, and for me it also made a fantastic carry on bag. I took a 9 day trip with this bag and my purse, carrying 5 pairs of socks, 3 pairs of pants, 5 shirts, my toiletries, a hair dryer and brush, my vitamins, my Nook tablet and Nook Reader, my charging cables for the Nooks plus my iPhone, ear phones, snacks, and my drink. This bag isn't that large dimensionally but it just seems to swallow up gear on the inside.