The Search for the Perfect Carry-On Personal Item (… again)

I tried wearing a packable duffel bag on my trip to Vegas as my personal item.  It was annoying because the backpack didn’t sit properly on my back.  Aside from that, I liked that the duffel was squishy and fit well under the seat in front of me, and the duffel opens across the top and isn’t too deep so it was easy to find everything I needed once seated in the plane.

So again this week I read other blogs and looked at mec.ca, amazon.ca, Tumi, Nomatic, and finally Lug.  I’ve been avoiding Lug for a long time because the bags were too puffy.  Too much bulk, too many little pockets I felt I had no use for.  I was hoping to spend $200-500 and get something I really loved, that I felt met all my criteria, but I didn’t find anything like that.  The looks kept really trending to sporty with lots of clips and straps or were very boxy like briefcases and didn’t give the ease of use like a duffel or squishability for under the seat.

Up to this point I had a Tumi Ruth satchel that was the closest thing, but it wasn’t a backpack, was barely big enough, and the strap was a couple inches short of comfortable when wearing it cross-body.

So backpack= not the best access from the top like a duffel bag, hard to get things out in the plane

Duffel bag= crappy to wear as a backpack

Cross-body bag= not as comfy as a backpack, some are too tall to sit well under the seat and have to be put on their sides

Oh… And I want a pass-through for the telescope handle of my carry-on luggage.  Is that too much to ask?! Ha!

The closest thing I found this time around was on Lug’s website.  I’m worried about the bulk.  But I am going to try these two anyway.  One is arriving tomorrow and one is arriving Thursday.  They were both way under budget.

I am very excited to touch and feel this Lug Via Travel ($150 CAD)- the colour and hardware look beautiful to me!  Next is the Lug Boxer 2 ($139 CAD).

So that’s it- they’re ordered and in the mail.  I loved their website too- very clean and easy to order from them.  I never felt lost on that site or wishing for info that wasn’t there.

I’ll try to update once I’ve received them and maybe tested them out a little!