About
Made for travelers, by travelers
Caracol was started in 2016 by Marisol Vega and Owen Pratt after a budget flight from Lisbon.
The fare was cheap. The backpack Owen brought was two centimeters too deep for the sizer at the gate, and the fee to put it in the hold cost more than his ticket. Marisol's bag fit, but it was a shapeless sack that dug into her shoulders for the rest of the week.
We couldn't find a bag that was built to the free size and still carried like a proper backpack. So we made one. A caracol is a snail: it carries everything it needs, and it fits into small places.
Our mission is to make it easy to travel with one small bag. Here is what that means to us.
Build to the limit
Every bag starts from a published airline size, not from a design sketch. If it will not pass the sizer, it does not ship.
Carry like a backpack
Small bags still deserve padded straps and a back panel. A personal item is often the only bag you carry all day.
Work from anywhere
We are a small remote team spread across four time zones. We test our bags on our own trips.
Pay it forward
Each year the Caracol Travel Grant helps a student take a first trip abroad with one small bag.
The team
Remote all year, together once a year. Our last retreat was in Mexico City.
