Are you a pack rat and proud?

Because if I'm out of the house all day I have stuff planned for the majority of that time - so I don't need tons of stuff to keep me amused etc.

I need my phone, card and keys and maybe some painkillers. Otherwise, eh, it's just a waste.

That's you. I'd need my laptop, a book, chargers, make up, hoody, pills, water bottle, snacks (to save costs), phone. Minimum.

There's no way I could spend all the downtime in that day looking at a phone screen.

I was often out of the house for that length of time in the past - I still never carted half my belongings around with me!

She's out for 16 hours out of 24. I'd need a lot of stuff if I was out all that time too.

Fair enough just keys and phone if you're popping out for an hour or 2. OR going to work in an office all day.

But out out, in the city, moving around? Working. Meeting someone. A hour or more commute each way. You need stuff.

Yep, I carry a sizable rucksack everyday and look like I'm off for a hike at any moment. On an average day I might have a coffee cup, water bottle, umbrella, packed lunch, trainers and sports clothes, laptop, note book, art supplies for 20 kids, spare shopping bag to pick up groceries on the way home.

I'm often out for 12+hrs at a time. Everywhere I go is en route to somewhere else. If a go to a gig after work, the bag check always raises eyebrows.

Ps, I'm also a regular on the "why am I so unstylish?!" threads. Because I'm a massive tortoise! At least I'm well fed, caffeinated and dry.

OP I have just transferred my laptop, small makeup bag and lunch box into my backpack for work. I have one but don’t associate it with work even though it is quite a nice animal print one . I do drive to work though so not actually carrying it far or bumping into people with it but it will mean I am not picking up 3 separate straps. Thank you for the reminder.

Now tell us what you really think! 😂😂😂

I like the sound of your bag of stuff and café trips though, OP! I totally get what you mean about the pleasure of being prepared for eventualities and carrying what you need with you, especially if it's in a nice bag!

I take a bag to and from work because I have work things in it. I am always in the same workplace and rarely go off site during my day. I have a little bag that lives in the cloakroom at work which has a hairbrush, hand cream, a spare hair scrunchie etc. I don't have the time/opportunity to read a book or go for a coffee during the day.

I hate bloody backpacks.
Why on earth would I want all my usefull stuff to be out the way on my back? They’re so cumbersome it’s like being pregnant but on your back. They make your clothes ruck up, and are not great for the large boobed like me.
The eternal faff of taking it on and off to get stuff, the constant zipping and unzipping, the stupid faffing in the stupid pockets.
I have friends who are backpack people and there have been times when they’re rustling, zipping and scrabbling I want fling their ugly annoying back packs into the bin.
I swear the scrabbling for their purse or phone is a tactic to get me to pay because my purse is easily accessible at my side in my normal useful bag.
The only thing worse than a big backpacks are those ridiculous leather trying to look like a stylish handbag backpacks. They can get in the bin too.

pencil cases are great for carrying stuff that isnt just pencils or pens though, particularly the little things that are likely to disappear in a larger bag - lip balm, tablets, inhaler, small tools like a pry-bar or something, glasses screwdriver in my case, trolley coin, tampons/mooncup, cables, etc etc.

If you get into backpacks, then theres the additional world of pouches :)

Surely you can understand that not everybody's days/lifestyle/preferences are the same as yours, though?

Nobody is telling you that you have to carry all that stuff - obviously, if you never use hand gel or wear a scarf, don't carry one. But it's not difficult to understand, surely, that not everyone drives, not everyone is only out for 'a few hours' (the OP says she's often out from 6am to 10pm), some people might be working and will therefore be using their phone a lot more than you use yours, etc. Not everyone likes spending money on drinks in coffee shops all the time. Personally I never carry a thermos or a water bottle but it's pretty clear why some people do, isn't it?

As for 'what are you doing that you need a pencil case' - I can't speak for the OP but if I'm out for a whole day I often have a pencil case in my bag, along with a notebook. If I'm out for the day for fun, I often I fancy doing a bit of writing or a couple of little drawings/doodles. If I'm working I'm taking notes by hand and I tend to use several different colours for that because it helps me keep things clear and organised if the notes are clearly differentiated for each meeting/project.

They work in different jobs or wfh and don’t go to gym straight from other places. I think your way is sensible and saves time.

I HATE lugging bagfuls of stuff around. I'd love to be someone who travels light every day, but I just don't know how.

If I'm doing something as simple as going to work and then the gym, I need my handbag (keys, phone, travel cards, meds), my laptop bag, and my gym bag. God forbid I need an umbrella or want to pick up some shopping on the way home. I feel like the only person in the tube carriage with tonnes of stuff dangling off me, though... I'd love to know how other people do it.

I have a black Tommy Hilfiger leather backpack for my every day bag. It’s big enough for purse, phone, kindle, lip balm, hand cream and headphones and usually some sort of fidget toys or army figures 🙄 Small Vivienne Westwood cross body for going ‘out out’ which just fits my phone and lip gloss.

I think we go through phases don't we when kids were wee never went anywhere without a bag for them plus a handbag and a work bag if I was going to work. I'm a mixture sometimes i fit everything into a big bag other times I'm leaving the house with a large handbag with work stuff in, a handbag with purse keys phone etc in and then a lunch satchel

I'm like you OP, and well known for taking crazy amounts of stuff with me! I often have funny reactions at venue bag checks, and as you can imagine it caused quite a stir once when I was arrested and all my belongings had to be logged individually 😅
I sometimes take 3 books with me in case I finish one and then want a choice. I also need plenty of food and drink just in case. You never know what may happen!
On the plus side I usually have a pen, painkillers, hand gel, spare pants, spare snacks etc so if you're with me and you need something I can often help.

It may not surprise you to hear I'm autistic. I feel more comfortable with my supplies to hand and genuinely don't know how people go out for the day with just a purse and phone... Or sometimes just a phone. I admire them but it's not for me!

I do one extreme or the other.

I cannot understand the point of piddly little handbags.

I either have nothing except phone and keys, or I'm lugging around a massive sack containing every possible permutation of crap I could possibly need in a zombie apocalypse.

I try to travel as light as possible. My daily work backpack only contains my laptop, my book, my phone, my lunch box and my dog's stuff (he comes with me to the office)
And my house keys, a lipbalm + a wipe to clean my spectacles in my jacket's pocket.

Unless I go to the gym, I never carry a bottle of water with me, we have running water in the office.

I take a back pack to work. Going out if I have a coat I just use pockets in no coat then a small cross body. Different bags for different occasions!

Yep.

I carry a mini screwdriver all the time in case the arm screws on my glasses comes loose, it did it once and i nearly lost the arm screw so now im prepared!