Roller case vs. backpack vs. purse vs. travel vest

The Roller Case

Have you ever tried to run with a roller case? Have you ever been forced to gate-check a roller case at the last minute? Have you ever missed a connecting flight because the roller case took forever to come out of gate-checking?

that moment right before the ground crew took everyone's roller cases for mandatory gate checking

All this and more has happened to us and here are our critiques of the roller case.

• Roller cases - or at least the cheap ones we've always bought - do not allow you to be hands free.
• Often passports are tucked away in 'safe' areas which require two hands to find. You end up having to jam the roller case between you and the wall of the check in counter while you fiddle with passports and itineraries, which just looks dumb.
• Using a roller case forces strange body mechanics - twisting and pulling which is not great for people with back or neck issues
• It is almost impossible to run with the roller case unless you carry it, as when it's dragged at high speed it can twist, flip, bounce, and otherwise make a nuisance of itself.
• It is surprisingly bulky and hard/impossible to carry on one's lap when on a busy shuttle bus - and you may not plan to be on a busy shuttle bus but if you get delayed overnight in Memphis or Paris you would be lucky to get on a shuttle bus to an airport hotel.
• The cheap roller cases are not weighted correctly and mostly fall over whenever parked
• It is awkward to carry a purse as well as pull a roller case - you see a lot of people trying to secure the purse to the top of the roller case ineffectively
• they are not great on escalators or moving walkways.
• they are tricky to unpack and repack on the fly - esp if you need something at the bottom or Security take everything out - because it's easy to overpack them at home when you have the luxury of space and time and you're not madly dashing to get on your connecting flight.
• Amsterdam, among others, makes you go through security again regardless of where you have come from or how great that country's security checks were
• sometimes the handles don't slide into the case if the case is overpacked
• awkward to roll around London or wherever on your first day abroad
• a lot of museums used to have cloakrooms and lockers for roller cases but don't now because of bomb threats. There are a few exceptions but mostly in Scotland.
• If you have checked a huge roller case and have a 'carry on' roller case, that is a lot of luggage. It does not make you popular on crowded trains or buses, which rarely accommodate American-size baggage.

Worst of all:

• The roller carry on is almost always the first thing grabbed in a last minute 'gate checking' baggage binge. Some airplanes have such limited overhead space that they can not allow even half the ticket-holders to bring carry-ons aboard. A handful of smaller airplanes cannot fit even the 'approved size' baggage and thus wrestle them all away from ticket holders at the last minute.

Three days after getting married in the States, I packed a roller carry-on with all the valuable china and knickknacks I was bringing to the UK.

One of my uncles worked as a baggage handler and he assured me that checked bags get thrown around and also riffled through quite a bit.

There was a last minute 'gate checking' baggage binge on the flight from Paris to Edinburgh and I refused to let go of my baggage. Once I got on the plane I realized why they had had the binge. Even my small carry on case wouldn't fit in the overhead lockers.

I ended up having no leg room on that flight because I had to wedge it between me and the seat in front me.

I did get it home without breaking anything. But it was an uncomfortable trip and not one I would recommend for anyone.

The one thing that can be said for the roller case is that it is good for keeping the weight of your luggage off your shoulders. When standing in lines for hours - say at customs/immigration - it is nice to have a case that can inch along with you.

However if you are trying to carry children or pull children along on a trunkie, you absolutely cannot have a roller case - at least not with speed and mobility.

The Backpack

Having traveled a fair bit more since my newlywed naivety, I would always reject the roller case in favor of a backpack. The majority of people should try it. There are classy and cute backpacks out there as well as the more Spartan, serviceable ones.

Here are some practical points for carrying a backpack:

• It allows you to be hands free.
• It's easy to unpack or look through whilst sitting, standing, etc
• Equally distributed weight across body
• Perfect size to carry on lap
• Great on the go
• Less awkward to carry around London or wherever, though mind those randomly placed pieces of art in the galleries as you turn! It might be best to carry a backpack on your front or in your arms in a museum to avoid nicking any masterpiece on passing.
• It is almost never snatched in a last minute 'gate checking' baggage binge. Whereas every roller case is taken for fairness' sake. 
• One lady on our last flight to Pisa begged and begged to keep her case - she had a tight connection and was speaking at a conference in Florence - but they took the roller case anyway. 
• I have never seen a normal sized backpack taken - once or twice a massive backpacking-across-Europe backpack has been taken but never a normal one. Or even a baby carrier backpack, which can be massive - these are never touched.

But you travel with kids - so you need four carry-ons to encompass baby food, burp cloths, and toys, you say? Well I have traveled with a backpack with babies and small children many a time. It's surprising how creative you can get if you put your mind to it. See my family packing tips and what not to pack list.

Also see my blog post on re-covering tired backpacks here.

Purse/laptop case/brief case/hip pack/book bag

If you can get away with traveling with nothing but a purse or laptop case, that is great. We always prefer to carry on instead of go through the rigmarole of baggage reclaim, which can add an hour to your trip when you are most worn out.

Traveling with a purse in Europe, where pick-pocketing and purse-snatching is rife, is not the best idea. A quality leather purse or a sleek laptop case puts a target on you, I have always felt.

I have one friend who always travels with a hippyish, over-one-shoulder style bag which has no zip and doesn't look worth stealing. This seems like a good idea.

I doubt any Anne-Shirley style carpet bag with a broken handle would get snatched either, but clearly you have to be discerning.

The body mechanics of wearing something over-one-shoulder for hours would clearly not work for people with certain neck or back issues, and spending a whole trip worrying about a purse being snatched doesn't sound like my idea of a relaxed trip.

Travel vest

I know some folk who decided to pack everything they needed for their trip in their winter coats. They added pockets to the point that it looked like they were wearing backpacks under their winter coats, and also wore travel vests with pockets underneath. They said it worked well but it did look a little strange.

See my article on making a travel vest out of a coat or vest you already have.