Travel Luggage

By Connie Marianacci

Packing is normally left for the last minute, usually the night before departure. You normally want to take everything possible and not even your current suitcase can hold all you want to take. Reality is, you never use all you have packed so what I do is first choose the luggage and then sort out what will be able to fit in it. In that way you control yourself in what you are taking.

So, when choosing luggage, I first think how I will be moving around at my destination and how many stairs I will probably have to go through until arriving to what I will be calling home for the next few weeks. After that I can really picture the size of the backpack I will take.

From my experience, the best thing is to travel light. This means traveling with a strong suitcase with big wheels, a comfortable handle and that you are able to take it up the stairs without trouble. I have found all these requirements in the last suitcase I bought.

If is about 530 x 1060 high, 24". It has very good quality wheels and a comfortable handle that pulls of the top to carry it. The handle is strong and thick which gives you assurance that it is not going to break. The best part is, that at the bottom of the suitcase you can take out straps so you use the suitcase as a back pack! And to top this off, mine came with an additional backpack to be able to put all my carry-on stuff in.

If traveling to Europe: this is your best choice since you will definitely what to choose public transportation upon your arrival since taxis are so expensive.

If traveling to South America: taxis are quite cheap so you may do OK with a big suitcase. On the other hand, once there you will want to travel to other cities and a right size suitcase would be the best option.