This is a good thread. It’s helping me think about my “ luggage capsule “.
I currently use a 2-wheel ( hard to get now) Ricardo carryon I got from TJMAXX. I use is for car and air. It’s not super lightweight I know- I plan to actually weigh it soon for reference. It can also becstuffed too full for airplane if not careful. Let alone maybe overseas requirements. It has an “ expansion zipper “ that I usually don’t use, kind of trying to reduce my tendency to over pack.
We are doing car travel now but I hope to resume air travel soon. For car travel it almost doesn’t matter because DH lugs the suitcases. I’m really wondering if I should just expand the thing and then put in some stuff I often put in a tote bag for “ in case” sometimes shoes, or swimsuit or something. To reduce, oh, need to go back to car. But still it makes it heavier.
If it turns out it’s more than ~ 7-8# empty, then I think I’ll shop for a new bag for air travel.
But, I have a smaller, maybe under max carryon bag with the 4 wheelies that I’ve never used, due to thinking it’s too small, when in fact I got it when imagining some short air trips to visit DD & grandkids when I only need the minimum casual wear, & can do laundry in needed, skip a hair dryer . It was “ aspirational “ , to practice packing more minimally! But then, COVID happened, and we didn’t fly, so it seemed unnecessarily restrictive.
Anyways, I think I’ll haul it down and weigh& measure for reference & maybe “ practice pack”.
The thing is, I’m still trying to maintain my strength & do my own toting, including being able to hoist bag up to overhead bins, but it’s interesting how often some guy reached out to do it for me, because I did have to really “ oomph” it up or down. Not effortless!
What’s funny about that is, no effort, no maintenance, let alone gain!
The crowded aisles and impatient passengers is a big part of it— any delay or 1,2,3…hoist! that should just be part of using your muscles, gets people frustrated, or maybe worried.
My point is that it would take a VERY light and compact bag for me to LOOK effortless hoisting it and shoving it in the bin. Probably impractically so.
