I check everything. At most, in the overhead compartment I will throw a jacket, and maybe a bag lunch on a longer flight. I don’t understand why so many people insist on cramming square pegs into round holes (overhead luggage compartment) with large bags which never get opened during the flight.
Do you realize how much faster you could get off the plane if you didn’t have to wait for everyone to disassemble the jigsaw puzzles in the overhead bins?
I’m a checker too. I have a bag of goodies for the plane (munchies, water, book, Advil) that will fit nicely under my feet, and that’s it.
I take carry-on all the time, but it’s just my backpack. Which fits under the seat. Which I put under the seat because that way I can get to it any time I want, because it has everything I could possibly want for a flight. I have occassionally gone with pure carry-on and no checking, but that’s only when I was flying with a very small bag to spend a weekend somewhere.
I’m the opposite. I rarely check bags. However, my carry-ons do fit in regulation size and I’m yet to bring one of those freakin’ monster-sized with wheels bags. The time I don’t spend waiting for luggage more than compensates for the time it takes to get off the plane. I just got into a habit of packing insanely lightly due to having to take off to stupid family events too much in the last couple of years. The last thing I want to do is haul a suitcase across the country every couple of months just to hang out with family. They can put up with my minimal clothing choices.
If I am travelling for more than a week though, certainly most of it gets checked and my carry-on is tiny.
I always take some carry on. Call me cynical, but I don’t have a lot of faith in the airline: safely transporting anything remotely breakable in checked luggage; or consistently transporting both you and your checked luggage to the same destination at the same time. As as result, I will carry on a change of clothes and my basic toiletries, anything that I attach value to, and anything breakable. I tend to check only things that I’m willing to never see again.
If I’m going away for only a night or two, I bring a two carry-ons: small suitcase (always one of the smallest in the overhead), and a large-ish purse with a waterbottle, book to read, etc. It’s so much easier, because that way you don’t need to stand around for two hours waiting for your luggage*, the airline can’t lose your suitcase, etc. You can get off the plane and just go to wherever you’re going. It’s also a courtesy if someone’s picking you up at the airport: that way they don’t have to guess when you’ll be ready to go.
If I have a lot of stuff, though, or know I’m going to have a lot of time in an airport during a layover, I generally don’t bring a carryon other than my purse: there’s nothing like wading through a crowded fast-food joint or restroom with a two-wheeled appendage dragging behind you.
*this reaction a product of growing up using the Philly airport, where the baggage-handling system operates as if it were built sometime in the late 1600’s.
I use Amtrak rather than planes, and I just carry on one rolling suitcase. They let you have up to two carry-ons if they meet the size limits. I just put it up overhead.
I’d probably check it if I were going on a plane, though.
It depends on the size of what I’m carrying. If it’s an overnight or weekend trip and I have a pretty small bag / backpack, then I’ll take it on board with me. However, if I’m off overseas for three weeks with quite a bit of luggage, then I’ll check it. If I’m facing a 24 hour flight, then an extra wait at the other end of 10 minutes or so to get my luggage isn’t going to matter very much.
I carry a couple of days of clean shirts and knickers, plus toiletries and Rx’s. You never know when some 9-11ish event will leave you living in an airport for a week 
BTW, my flying is usually overseas.
Strictly carry-on for me. I save time by not having to check luggage, or wait for it to be unloaded. And I never have to worry that my luggage is going to Guam while I am going to Boston. 
I check nothing. I’m alleged to be a pretty high-maintenance babe, but I can fit everything I need in a roller carry-on case that fits prettily in the overhead bin. I also carry a large tote bag in lieu of a handbag that fits the really important things - you know - like makeup. 
I’ve had too many experiences in the past where my checked luggage either arrives days after I do, or never arrives at all.
VCNJ~
Anyone who has ever had their luggage lost by the airlines might well re-think checking.
With the security situation these days, it is becoming harder to carry on, but carry on I do. As others have said, I use a backpack. Whether the trip is two days or two weeks, international or domestic, everything I have is in this backpack which can fit under the seat in front of me.
I spend time going through security, but after that it is smooth sailing.
No time is spent anxiously hanging around a luggage carousel.
Quite the opposite to the OP. I guess we’re the people that hold you up.
After a flight from Vegas, about a dozen wheelie bags came off the airplane in terrible conditon. I assume a baggage handler had enough of the bags where the handle pulls out. Most of the casualties had the handles pulled out and twisted around a couple of times. Our carry-on sized wheelie bag was also checked, but we fastened the handle down so that it wouldn’t come loose. The back of the bag was dented inward from the back by about 3 inches. If we had anything breakable in it, it would have broken.
On a flight to England, our luggage got off at Gatwick while we continued on to Manchester. It took a couple hours to find it (unclaimed fortunately) and about 4 days to actually receive it.
Our carry-on baggage has our valuables, breakables and toiletries plus sundry items for use during the flight. If the luggage gets lost again, we want access to the first things you would normally unpack at your destination.
I go very light, and as such usually have a bag 1/2 the size required for carry-on. I don’t trust others and would rather keep an eye on my own bag thankyouverymuch.
Also when I get off, I quickly grab my bag, I don’t hold up others, and don’t understand why others take so long to grab at most 2 bags.
I usually check my bag and carry on my computer. I used to carry it all on for convenience – you didn’t have to wait for the baggage return (and your bag was less likely to be lost), but on a nonstop flight, and with security these days, it’s easier to check it.