Travel Gear: The Best Luggage Your Money Can Buy

Everyone always asks me how I pack for such long trips; a conversation that usually ends with shock when I say my travel companion is one standard roll-aboard. With airlines charging to check a bag, I have seen more people carrying on their luggage. My favorite roll-aboard is my Swissgear by Wenger, Lugano Collection 21” Expandable Pilot Case.

These days, I find myself traveling on more regional jets with smaller overhead bins resulting in carry-on bags being gate-checked. Luckily, my bag has held up every single time to the jostling, throwing, and stacking that carry-on bags endure in transit from the jetway to the cargo hold. It has a sturdy handle, two thick wheels, and plenty of pockets. My favorite feature is that it has an expandable zipper (perfect for when I pick up one too many souvenirs)!

The worst part is that I am not a good friend to my luggage. I drag them along cobblestone streets in Portugal, through the sandy shores of Honduras, and even on splash-prone boats across the bays of the Seychelles while reviewing hotels for ProfessionalTravelGuide.com. My bag has held up with hardly a problem.

I like to stuff my dress shirts in a jumbo Ziploc bag before sealing it tightly to keep them from wrinkling. All of my smaller items from socks to camera charger go in another Ziploc bag so that when I open my bag for airport security or on the train, the contents don’t go pouring out. Not terribly glamorous, but it’s a fail-safe tip to arriving organized and presentable.

Once while traveling on an unnamed airline, the baggage handlers managed to lodge a piece of metal into the wheel rendering it unusable. I dug up the 10-year warranty that came with the bag, contacted Swissgear, and voila, a new bag was on my doorstep.

I recommend this bag (which by the way, only cost me $69 at Target) to everyone who asks me. Not because I feel the need to become a traveling salesman, but because I believe that traveling should be more about taking in the sights and sounds of our exciting world rather than picking up undergarments from a rolling baggage claim!