If anybody wants to dive into the deep end of the pool of travel gear, check out the ‘Aly Smalls’ and ‘Packhacker’ Youtube channels. Packhacker has a great website, too, with really detailed reviews of everything from soup to nuts in terms of travel gear.
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I’ve been using our Briggs&Riley 2 wheeler that we can roll on & put in overhead bin. It’s served us very well and even has held up to being checked luggage (as H nearly always checks his bag). The spinners are slightly smaller and I need all the volume I can get, since so much of it is full of medical gear.
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If you are buying a new suitcase with spinner wheels, make sure it also has a brake/lock on it to prevent the suitcase from sliding on hilly streets and trains.
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When I was having trouble walking I found a spinner bag worked well as a cane.
Luckily that is no longer an issue.
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Just had a good warranty experience with Eagle Creek carryon bag with outside strap (for compressing contents) that had broken. Cost was $280 in 2015, and we happened to still have the sales tag and receipt. I found a repair place close enough (there are 11 in US), figured we could hire them if warranty didn’t pan out. Ended up getting over $200 credit to a new Eagle Creek purchase.
You can also arrange warranty service without a Repair Center https://eaglecreek.com/pages/warranty
Authorized Repair Centers
- California
- Encinitas – Index Urban
- San Diego – Index Urban
- San Francisco – Main Luggage Service & Repair
- Colorado
- Denver / Englewood – Paradise Baggage
- Florida
- Jacksonville – Gus & Company
- Kansas
- Kansas City / Prairie Village – Bag & Baggage
- Massachusetts
- Boston / Newton Centre – Leather World
- Minnesota
- Minneapolis – Luggage World
- New Jersey
- Morristown – Square Luggage
- Oregon
- Portland – Fink’s Luggage
- Texas
- San Antonio – San Antonio Shoe & Luggage Repair
- Virginia
- Great Falls – Paul’s Repair
- Washington
- Tukwila - T.W. Carol
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Yes, Eagle Creek is amazing about warranty work. I have a waistpack that converts to a purse which I bought decades ago. They have continued to repair it whenever I request, if I mail it to them or send them a photo of the issue. Most recently, the strap was getting difficult to operate because one of the clips was somewhat frozen (no doubt due to old age). They sold me replacement hooks for a very reasonable price & I replaced them.
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Osprey is also great for warranty work. My husband had the wheels break on the cobblestone streets of Lisbon. I sent photos and sent the bag back to them. They said they couldn’t repair and sent him a brand new bag. The bag he had was no longer made and the bag they sent retailed for over $400.00.
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Columbia has been great about warranties also. I had a jacket of theirs for many years—maybe even decades. Eventually it started shedding white flakes because coating was disintegrating. I asked them how to repair and they asked me to mail it to them and told me I could pick out a replacement jacket of equal or lesser value.
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I use a Tom Binh small travel tray to corral my bits and bobs. It’s good for earrings, my pill organizer, key card, anything that comes out of my pockets or purse that I want to keep close at hand. Their cubelets, organizer pouches, and bags were good additions to my carryon. (I tend to dump stuff and these keep things separate and tidy in my bag.)
Daiso stores also have mesh bags for cheap.
The epika plug adapter from Amazon has USB sockets as well as standard ones and works in multiple countries. I bought a little set of USB adapters which came in handy last year when we had lightening, USB-C, USB-A, and whatever other ones they’ve come up with, on our trip.
Tiny ziplock pill bags - I put a week’s worth of pills in each, number them by week, and then stuff them into their original bottle. Each week, one packet goes into the organizer.
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I use the tiny ziplock bags for pills too. Put the number I need for the trip plus a few extra for when I drop or in case of travel changes. I have one bag per type of pill and attach a sticker from pharmacy that shows Rx name & dosing instructions & strength. I put all the tiny ziplocks in a bigger ziplock and put that in my toiletry bag.
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I use this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09XPWGFTV?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2
Bought it specifically to use on a cruise and have a set of heavy duty magnetic hooks that I use with it. Great to dry the swimsuits and lingerie especially.
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I have a little down time before dinner so I thought I’d share something that has worked quite well so far on our 7 week “down under” trip.
I had decided I would hand wash (Uniqlo airism) undergarments, socks and a few other things that are wicking and dry quickly. I packed a travel bottle filled with Tide free and gentle, odor refresh laundry detergent, a collapsible dishpan, hangers and clothes clips.
It has worked really well. We wash clothes on our first night of a 3 day stay…in case it takes more than a day to air dry. Roll the clothes in a towel and hang them. DH was skeptical but likes the ease and the savings.
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Once I roll them I stand on the roll and walk back and forth a couple of times - gets even more moisture out of the garments - then I hang them.
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Instead of walking on them, once I’ve rolled the clothes into a towel we each grab an end and twist. A surprising amount of water comes out, the towel is too damp to use. So take your shower first and dry off before you do this.
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I use the towel tricks at hotel when drying clothes. It does help when it is easy to ask for more towels off the cleaning cart (or sometimes just grab a few if nobody nearby to ask)
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That works too, but I travel solo a lot, so no twisting partner -
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I’m able to put the damp garments rolled on a towel on bathroom counter and lean down on it, putting my weight on the roll with my forearms and squeeze out a lot of water.
I mainly handwash things that are pretty thin and quick drying so they dry overnight or at the most over 2 nights. I only wash when I know we will be in same lodging at least 2 nights. If worse comes to worse, the blow dryer can speed drying as well.
Towels in shoes and blow dryers can also help dry damp footwear. (I now travel with Goretex sneakers but used to travel with whatever sneakers).
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I’m very happy with my waterproof On Cloudhorizon shoes! They’re very comfortable - lightweight with good traction and stability. When I was at REI the salesperson recommended going up half a size and I’m glad I did.
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Mine are Goretex Hokas and they are the correct size for me—no black toe, no discomfort, even wearing them and walking pretty much most of the days when touring as a traveler. I used them the whole month we were gone. Since they are black, it didn’t feel too undressy to wear them every day for the entire trip.
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I just bought these and am breaking them in before our trip. So far, so good!
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