Tortuga

Welcome to Team Tortuga.

Our story started on a backpacking trip to Europe in 2009. We—Fred and Jeremy, the co-founders of Tortuga—learned what a hassle it was to travel with the wrong gear.

I (Fred) had that big, cylindrical bag that every “backpacker” carries. But those are hiking bags. They don’t work for travel. Every time I needed something from my bag, I had to dump everything out and repack the bag. 

On the first day of our trip, the shoulder strap ripped off of Jeremy’s bag. He had to carry it—painfully—on one shoulder for the next two weeks.

The trip was a blast, but our luggage was a disaster. Despite weeks of research, we couldn’t find the perfect travel backpack.

So we made it.

Our goal was to make travel easier.  We needed the right gear for city travel.

My hiking bag was big, disorganized, and hard to pack.

A suitcase wasn’t right either. Suitcases can’t handle cobblestone streets, dirt roads, or flights of stairs. They aren’t built for the kinds of trips we were taking.

In 2010, we started Tortuga to solve this problem. We created the travel backpack: a carry-on-sized backpack designed for city travel. 

A travel backpack is as organized as a suitcase and as comfortable as a hiking backpack. 

For the past decade, we’ve been designing gear for travelers like you. 

Today, Tortuga is a small team of 12 who work remotely and live all over the world. 

Our products are designed for travelers, by travelers.

If you’ve experienced the shortcomings of suitcases or hiking packs on your city travels, check out our travel backpacks for a better solution on your next trip.

Happy travels,

Fred and the Tortuga Team