I want to be clear about a few things: I am obsessed with backpacks and what they can do for my travel, and I am also always curious if a diaper bag can outdo my current one.

I got introduced to the No Reception Club Getaway Bag via my friend, an avid traveler who has a toddler. She asked if I had heard of the Getaway Bag, the newest travel diaper bag for parents that’s all the rage right now in the travel community.

I had to try it out after seeing that it has a “shelf system” like Dan’s favorite camera backpacks from top brands.

In this review, see how the Getaway Bag is working out for me as a travel diaper bag, personal item on flights and diaper bag backpack for daily use.

Quick takeaways

  • The Getaway Bag doesn’t come cheap, BUT, we treat it more like a piece of luggage that will last through all our kids (and then some).
  • Useful features? It’s got a lot of them, from “Parent pockets” to the “wet compartment,” and I made use of almost all the features when we went to Mexico. Scroll down to see.
  • Things I don’t like? There were a few of those (keep reading to see my thoughts) like how the Sidekick fits back into the backpack itself.
  • Is it worth it? In short, I like this bag a lot, and in this review, find out why I recommend it to avid traveler parents.

First impressions

I opened my box of the Getaway Bag Bundle, including the No Reception Club Dopp Kit and Sidekick fanny/belt bag, and I really liked the packaging. I felt like I could see the company’s founders, Gemma and Daniel, with their motto shining through.

I slid my hands over the materials of the Getaway Bag, the Dopp Kit and the Sidekick waist bag, and everything seemed strong and high-quality.

I had already watched the video on the No Reception Club website about how the bags were developed, and I knew that the Getaway Bag was designed by a seasoned backpack specialist who has designed backpacks for leading travel brands.

I took the products out of their packaging and called Dan over, saying, “This stuff is the real deal! We’ll try it all out soon on our next road trip.” With summer just beginning, I decided to make the Getaway Bag my daughter’s pool and diaper bag for the summer, given that it has a bottom-zip wet compartment that was really useful for every pool excursion.

Verdict for use on flights and international travel

Did I like this backpack for flying with our toddler, and for traveling? The answer is yes, and Dan liked it, too. We took the Getaway Bag as our main diaper bag for taking around Mexico City with a toddler every day. We also used it as our daughter’s travel diaper bag on the flight. The main features we used at the airport were:

  • Trolley sleeve for stacking the backpack on our rolling Quince suitcase
  • Front zip compartment for keeping the family’s passports, as they went in and out constantly during security and passport control.

(The first photo was taken of all our luggage when we left for our trip, and the second one is a photo of our luggage on the way home.)

One thing I wanted to make uber sure of, before we left, was that the Getaway Bag fit in the “basket” of our UPPAbaby Minu Travel Stroller. When I slid it in, it fit like an absolute CHARM! So I said to Dan, “OK, we’ll take the Getaway Bag as our toddler’s diaper backpack on our trip.” Easy.

Every day in Mexico City, we put the Getaway Bag in the stroller, where it fit perfectly. If we had groceries in the bottom of the stroller, then Dan wore the backpack. It was always easy to slide over our shoulders, and I personally, I like that it holds its shape and always looks good, unlike our Nike diaper bag, which “slouches.”

Most days on our trip, we made use of the “shelves” in the bag’s interior, where I separated the snack cooler from books, snacks and diapers. I was always using the top “Parent Hood Pocket” for quick-access stuff like a fidget popper or a baby food pouch. I kept my wallet securely in the concealed “Security pocket” (and we stayed clear of theft during the whole trip).

And the bottom zippered “wet compartment” held dirtied or soiled clothes, or if everything was clean, I kept random things like toddler silverware and a Munchkin travel placemat in there.

We both liked this bag a lot for travel, and we’ve been recommending it since we got back from the trip. In our photos here, you can see how it worked out seamlessly for our needs as a couple of traveling parents with a toddler, far away from home.

What I liked best (key features to know)

Having seen lots of photos of the Getaway Bag online and in other reviews already, I knew what to expect and I knew what set this travel diaper bag apart from others. It truly is next-level, and by that I mean that it takes all the aspects of the best unique travel bags out there and builds them into one.

“Shelving” in the main cavity

Just like Dan’s Peak Design Backpack, which was the first backpack I’d ever seen to have shelf-style dividers inside, the Getaway Bag has two “shelves” that can be moved flexibly, kind of like how I’m able to move shelves in my fridge.

Access points

And just like Dan’s Peak Design Camera Backpack, which I consider one of the best-quality and best-designed backpacks of all time, the Getaway Bag has a top-style open with a tighten-able drawstring. It also has a side access pocket, where you can get to the items stored horizontally in the dividers.

Parent pocket & Valuables Pocket

I wouldn’t have known that this was the dedicated parent pocket if not for the guide included (thanks, Gemma and Daniel). When we were getting into the car, I put my phone in one of the flat mesh pockets, and while we were at the pool, I kept my keys safely in there.

I like that the parent pocket is for me, and I won’t jumble my adult things with my daughter’s.

The valuables pocket is located within the laptop compartment. Here, I can store stuff that I want hidden, or accessed only when I need it. The rest of the time, it’s safe and secure in this zippered mesh pocket.

Dirty pocket

Wait, it’s not that dirty! The zip-around bottom compartment is one that I’ve seen on Tom Bihn backpacks we own, and we keep shoes in there to separate them from everything else. The dirty and wet pocket of the Getaway Bag is for, of course, stuff that your child makes dirty or wet from spills, diaper accidents or wet beach clothes.

I put my daughter’s wet bathing suit in there (this has reminded me that I need to take it out), as well as a wet swim diaper.

Insulated lunch bag

It comes with this, and I now consider it a “must” for diaper bags, as you may have seen in my Nike Diaper Bag review, as our Nike Diaper Bag also came with a branded and insulated cooler for bottles or toddler food. I packed it up right away with snacks, and I enjoyed that the cooler fits snugly into one of the “shelves,” such that I could open it right up via the side access.

What I don’t like

This is pretty plain and simple: I’m not as much of a fan of the fact that both side zipper flaps have the water bottle holders on them. If you’ve read any of my other backpack reviews, you’ll know that a backpack must have an external water bottle pocket for me to like it.

In the Getaway Diaper Bag Backpack, the issue is that if you have a water bottle in one of the bottle pockets and then open the zipper for the access point, the bottle falls out.

I’d like to call it a flaw, but I am assuming that a lot of thought went into how this got designed, and the designers had to pick one of two not-great options for where the bottle pockets went, while keeping the size of the backpack manageable in total.

Second: after some use, I think my gripe is that I wish the wet compartment had a way of folding back a bit more so that I could leave it open to dry overnight if I really got the whole compartment wet with soiled clothes.

Overall volume

Overall, I think I had concerns about overall volume and if the Getaway Bag could meet the total volume that my Nike Diaper Bag was holding previously, and most of my travel products for a baby. The positive was that there were somethings I could leave behind, like my changing pad, because it’s included in the Sidekick, which I had packed away in the Getaway Bag already.

The backpack is 24 liters of volume in total, which is my “just right” volume for a backpack that should fit the daily essentials for a family of three or four. On a daliy basis, the Getaway Bag fit extra diapers, a change of clothes, the included “No Reception Club” mini cooler full of snacks, random toys like lightweight books or fidget poppers to use in restaurants, an extra cup and a toddler sweatshirt. There was room to spare. Of course, we loaded it up to peak capacity for our flight home.

The Sidekick

I have a lot to say about the Sidekick from No Reception Club. Since getting my diaper bag fanny pack, which you can read about in my Kibou fanny review, I’ve been impressed by “minimalist diaper bags” that are on the market.

The Sidekick is the second one I’ve tried, and what I like is that if you’re using the Getaway Bag as a diaper bag, the Sidekick matches, with its color and design. In short, here are my pros and cons.

Pros

  • It comes with a big folding changing pad that has a G-clip for a lock so that it stays tidy. It’s double the size of the Kibou changing pad.
  • It has a DOUBLE zipper, which I very much appreciate. If I have something bulky in there like two diapers, my hand sanitizer and diaper cream, I can zip toward the bulging areas.
  • The magnetic flap for keeping wipes is brilliant.
  • It weighs 0.5 lbs, which I like better than the Kibou, which feels heavy with its vegan leather and shape.

Cons

  • It doesn’t have a fold-out changing pad like the Kibou does, and I find this to be the best aspect of the Kibou, and one that I have made a ton of use of.
  • The wipes compartment (with the magnetic flap) is designed for a slim package of wipes, not the large one you’d get from Costco or Pampers. You need to specifically have a slimmed-down travel-sized package of wipes (but you wouldn’t travel with a package of 100 anyway).
  • I found that it didn’t fit in the “quick access pocket” on the Getaway Bag unless I really crammed it in there, so instead, I used it on the top “shelf” and took it out of the side access zipper pocket.
Helpful Tip

I have an update: I watched Gemma’s video a few days later about how to get the Sidekick into the exterior zip pocket and the tip is to “push in” the pocket until you hear the Velcro on the other side kind of snapping. Then, she has this great tip to use it face-in, so that the wipes pocket faces outward, and then you have a quick-access wipes pocket from the outside of the bag.

Dopp Kit

I was excited to first use the Dopp Kit as a packing cube! I’m looking forward to using it as my daughter’s toiletries case for her toddler toothbrush and all her essentials. I’ll also tell you why.

On our most recent trip to Colombia, I used mesh packing cubes for her toiletries, and of course, the one bottle of baby shampoo that I thought could never leak happened to leak all over everything.

I used the Dopp Kit on our trip to Mexico and had all our daughter’s toiletries in there. It worked out great to have them separated from ours, AND hanging on the towel hook in the Airbnb’s bathroom with the little hook that’s included and pops out.

This one DID fit perfectly in one of the shelves of the Getaway Bag. Bravo!

Are No Reception Club products worth it?

Here’s what I think, honestly: travel as a parent is stressful enough. Why use bags and backpacks that don’t have convenient features?

The [Getaway Bag]https://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=2619430&u=1884041&m=152553&urllink=&afftrack=) and Dopp Kit were designed by parents who have been through plenty of adventures and thought of the functions first, and then designed the products. I feel like when I use them, I can see why the features are the way they are, and they’re useful.

Second, baby and child products are the time to invest in quality. I’ve had bad quality baby products and I’ve been appalled over the emails I’ve had to send to brands to complain that something broke or doesn’t work the way it should.

The No Reception Club products are award-winning because they are awesome and they work well, with quality materials that don’t snag or break.

Anyway, to make these products worth their price tag, you have to consider if you’ll put them to the use you have in mind. They aren’t cheap, but they are timeless, cool and handy. I’ll be using all my No Reception Club travel items on upcoming trips and I’ll be happy to tell you how that goes.