Trunkis

We have owned two British Trunkis since December 2014 and taken them 30,000 miles. The trunkis have been extremely useful but also frustrating at times.

Pros:

• they are rolling suitcases which the kids can ride on, eliminating the need for a buggy/stroller
• they fit in the overhead compartment
• they pass the time on long layovers
• they are a good way to 'park' the child somewhere like in the line to registration. It's easy to say, 'Stay on the trunki' and keep them to it.
• they are cute
• they are novel

They actually fit a lot of small items

Cons:

• they don't actually fit as much stuff as you'd think and are a strange shape - you cannot pack in stuff like you normally would a backpack or roller case. There aren't separate compartments for things. I wouldn't feel safe putting for example a kindle inside as it would get jounced around and fall about.
• unless you are a die-hard minimalist, it is hard to pack everything a family needs for a transatlantic flight and one or two connecting flights in two trunkis. If you bring anything other than the bare essentials, there just isn't the space. I often end up packing one or two backpacks as well as the trunkis.
• The most I can fit in a trunki is generally one child's nightclothes, earphones, laptop or activity book, crayons and snacks. However if I split up the kids equipment between the trunkis, it's a pain to get out from the overhead compartments because trunkis don't balance well on laps when open - they're large, unwieldy and not weighted properly for it. If one child is asleep and we're juggling the other one, it can be quite tricky unless I decide to block the entire aisle to lay the trunkis on the floor to riffle through. Two open trunkis take up about three or four feet of aisle and it feels like a great imposition on anyone who might need to get up from the seats to go to the bathroom. So as far as trunkis being a practical way to take stuff on a trip, they're not great for actually being on the plane. My latest adaptation is to have all the 'we need it now' items in a small purse and then backups and items we use rarely or only once on the trip in the trunkis. I would top up the snacks and emergency items in my purse about once every hour or two. Meanwhile the purse fit under the seat in front of me or on my lap easily. This system worked better than I thought it would.
• trunkis are great indoors like an airport but less sensible on dog-poo-covered pavements or cobblestone or pebble paths. If your trip involves these, ditch the trunkis ahead of time.
• there's no way to keep a toddler strapped to the trunki, unlike a buggy where the toddler is buckled down. If your toddler is determined to run away while you are at customs/immigration, there's no way to keep them down other than to drop everything and restrain them with your hands - which you probably need to juggle passports, visa documents and to prove finger prints.
• they are not great for Under 3's - one of our 2-year-olds has been known to fall off the back of the trunki and hit his head on a marble floor.
• I'd be scared to put trunkis through checked baggage as they do not close completely and seem rather delicate so you're stuck with them as hand luggage even if your outbound trip isn't a smashing success.
• wheels are fixed so turning can be a bit tricky - no tight corners, you have to plan ahead!
• going downhill can be a bit disastrous but  luckily our airports normally don't have steep slopes in them. I say normally but you never know!
• they are not great on escalators - we pull the kids off and carry the trunkis up but some airports have a lot of escalators so this can get tedious
• trunkis can be a bit of a hazard in crowds, esp if you're like me and not great at steering. It's easy to almost do someone in with one of these things.
• the website used to claim that trunkis encourage kids to take ownership of their own luggage and become responsible - haha! Before this year when our kids are now 5 and 3, we have never been on a trip where the kids weren't too tired to ride the trunkis by the end and needed to be carried, as well as having the trunkis carried with them.
• It's awkward to carry a trunki, a child and a backpack or other luggage simultaneously