Travel Bags

There are a few things I like a little too much for my own good: Diet Coke, Ambien, men, and luggage. Or travel bags, as I like to call them. Because unlike a set of matched luggage (ick, btw) you can never have too many travel bags. Here are three I love:

1. My North Face messengery-type bag. I got it because it had flowers on it, a bit cuter than the utilitarian styles, but not so cute it looks like I wear a fanny-pack too. (In general, it's important that things be cute, but not too cute. I err on the side of not-cute.) It has a couple of zippered outer compartments, very good for not getting pick-pocketed, as well as interior mesh pockets and more zippered compartments in logical and helpful places. My favorite thing is that the front flap closes with magnets, so no tearing velcro or snapping sounds when you open it in public. I use this one all the time.

2. 27-inch wheeled backpack. The best feature of this bag is the removable mini-backpack on the front, which turns into an excellent carry-on bag, with a special zippered pocket for your iPod on the top and hole to thread out the headphones. (Not helpful if you are watching a video iPod, however.) And it can fit under the seat in front of you. The downside to this bag is that the main piece is too big for a standard sized carry-on. (Luggage carousels...ugh. Necessary evil.) I used this bag when I went to Ottawa and Montreal and it was great: not so big that I couldn't comfortably maneuver it through the very nice Canadian rail system, but big enough to hold enough clothing and shoes for a week's + worth of activities. And I love being able to reattach the carry-on before hauling, as well as having the option of carrying it like a backpack.


3. 22-inch wheeled backpack. I bought this one last weekend so I haven't used it yet, but I couldn't pass it up; I've had my eye on it for a year or so now and finally went on sale at REI.* This bag doesn't have the removable front mini-bag, but does have the option of either backpack style or wheeled transport and is small enough to take on the plane as a carry-on. I wanted a smaller weekend bag for quick trips, and I'll be using it when I go to NYC for Susan's wedding next month; can't afford to lose my dress en route and a smaller bag is never a bad thing on the subway. This is comparable in size to the Osprey Meridian, but I think the REI version has a sleeker look to it. I'm looking forward to breaking it in.

*I went in for a $6.00 hand strengthening gadget and left with this, too. A bit more than I expected the trip to cost, but worth it.