Our Diaper Bag

Alright, let me preface with a reminder that we don't have any kids, so we may be slightly deluded in diaper bag criteria. That said, we are some of the best travelers i know (we travel light and efficiently), and I carry heavy things for a living so I know what's comfortable to carry and what isn't.

You can see 5 spacious tabbed pockets on the front and 2 bottle pockets (with snaps) on the side

The bag we ultimately chose is a Tiding Men's Dark Brown Crazy Horse Leather Sports Backpack Camping Hiking Travel Bag 30814 (The link is for amazon.com, and has lots of pictures, but i hunted it down on ebay for $109 + $30 shipping and waited 2 weeks for it to ship from China)

There is a zippered pocket on the back perfect for a changing pad. The straps are wide and soft- very comfortable

There are pictures on amazon with the bag full so you can see all the pockets better, but there is a large pocket and a half pocket with elastic velcro straps and ~5" of space in between the two. There are also 2 small pockets and a zippered pocket

Why A Backpack?
I have damaged both shoulders and my back several times. As a waitress, it's kind of a given that I am somewhat crooked- all waitresses are- with more muscle on one side of our bodies than the other and one hip compensating for the lopsidedness. I absolutely know without a doubt that i am not doing some shoulder-bag deal. I am crooked enough. I don't use a purse in my normal life because 1) the bigger they are, the more crap you put in them and 2) they hurt my shoulders. We're pseudo minimalist people- we have decor, but we don't have clutter. I also really like having my hands free and can't see how dedicating one arm to a shoulder bag that repeatedly falls can possibly be ideal. We're going for weight distribution and comfort here. Practical people. Ergo- a backpack over a tote.

Quality/Style:
The cheapest diaperbags are still decently pricey, and we didn't want one that was just going to fall apart so we were willing to go up in price a bit.  Ultimately we spent $140 on a bag made of real leather and high quality. Bob and I have always been a team, and he will carry that diaper bag more often than not, so his opinion on the style carried some weight. He didn't want anything girly or childish, and I agreed. Our compromise was leather- it's resilient, well-crafted, and stylish. This bag will most likely survive our baby's childhood and can be repurposed for travel.

Pockets:
I am one of those "everything in its place" people. I'm efficient and organized, and i don't want to dig through a pile of baby clothes to find a pack of cookies or a diaper. That meant that our diaper bag had to have a lot of pockets and a lot of space. The backpack I selected is a hybrid, designed for hiking on the outside, but with a laptop/schooling motif on the inside.  It has convenient places for bottles and a changing pad and divisions to keep clothes and diapers separate. It has both pockets and compartments and was exactly what i wanted.