Mochila = more than backpack?
During my visit to Colombia, I used and saw many men using a "bolsa" as a shoulder carrying bag. The Colombians call this "una mochila". Apparently the use of this word to mean a shoulder bag is not universal in the Spanish speaking world.
Is this just a Colombian usage or are there other countries where bolsa is replaced with mochila? Since I did not have the opportunity to discuss this with my Colombian friends there, I would appreciate some discussion with you all.
In the dictionary for this site mochila is defined only as backpack and in an earlier posted question that was the primary answer in addition to purse. Purse in English (at least in the US) is usually a woman's accessory. The bolsas in Colombia were used ubiquitously by both men and women.
Comments? Clarifications? Experiences? All are welcome!
Google has many pictures under: mochila bags.
5 Answers
Hi! These are some designs. All hand made colombian wool mochila bags. Meticulously hand woven by the Indigenous Arhuacos (wool Mochila Arhuaca) and Wayuu (cotton Mochila Susu Wayuu) people who had a tough history, risked extinction but kept their unique traditions alive and expressed through their Mochila Designs and other forms of art. It takes approximately 40 hours for one woman to create a Mochila and each Mochila is created by one Arhuaco or Wayuu women with care and love.
The Arhuacos are a pre-Columbian tribe that lives in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in the north of Colombia. Today the Arhuacos are approximately 30 thousand people. The Wayuus are another pre-Columbian tribe that lives in the Guajira desert in the northernmost region of the country and are approximately 500,000 including a smaller population that lives across the border in the neighboring Venezuela. The Wayuu and Arhuacos Tribes hand craft these Mochillas using traditional sewing techniques that have been passed on for centuries. The Wayuu designs are colourful while the Arhuaco designs tend to be more subtle. The Wayuu Mochilas are hand made with cotton while the Mochilas Arhuacas are handmade with goat's wool.
I hope to be helpful 
Mochila has several definitions, including rucksacks (or knapsacks) and haversacks (or shoulder bags) as well as back packs.
En un libro español , he leído una otra palabra, cuál podria quedar bien en los tipos de mochillas colombianos :" alforja".¿ No sé si esta palabra es utilizable?
In a spanish book I have read a word, which seems be good for the colombian wool shoulder bags : "alforja"(haversack) . I don't know whether you can use this word ?
Here in the north of Mexico, we use " mochila" for the small "backpack" carried mostly by students, I have carried one now for several years in place of a briefcase. when carried over one shoulder it is much easier to carry,especially when loaded with books,files,and a computer.
Bolsa or bolsita is a womans purse or any other small bag.
Regional maybe, but that's our usage here.
They certainly tell me to take off my mochila before I go into some supermarkets here in Spain, and it's a backpack.
As a rule I don't go into supermarkets like that because then I have no where to put my shopping when I'm packing it up.
This is my mochila^^
