Need answer fast-ish due to a sale that ends Dec. 31.
This time next year, Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, my son will be on the verge of leaving for a semester abroad in Kyoto.
A store near me has a two-piece set of Samsonite hard-sided spinner luggage (27" or 28" and a carry-on) on sale for about $80. It’s a bargain, to be sure, but it’s still $80 that could just as easily go toward the tuition bills.
We have an assortment of inexpensive soft-sided luggage already, the largest piece being about 25". (And it just now occurred to me that I’ll be without that for a semester if he takes it! Not that I use it all that often.)
Taking into account weight limits, etc., I’m trying to decide if I should buy the luggage set for him or not.
Does anyone have any words of wisdom in this matter?
Does the kid have any relatives or friends who will be looking to give him a birthday or Christmas gift in the next year? If so, let them buy the luggage for him. We bought a five-piece luggage set for my nephew a couple of years ago for only slightly more than your store wants for a two-piece set.
My experience is that all international carriers bang up luggage. My hard suitcase is worse for the wear than my merely-grubby soft suitcase.
Make sure any luggage locks at a dedicated clasp–our new Samsonite only had the option to lock the ends of the zipper tabs (not an interlocking clasp between the tabs) and on first international use, the tab and zipper were torn off by baggage-handling equipment.
Instead of new luggage, you might consider getting a Pacsafe Exomesh cover. It can be used inside the luggage for security, or to lock a backpack or duffel to a stationary object (like a bed frame) in a room without a safe or in public.
What he really needs is a good travel backpack with a solid warranty. Nothing enormously huge, and not a back-country pack, but something you can pack a couple weeks with of clothes in and haul around on planes and trains. This will serve him in all kinds of travel for at least a decade, works for trips from two weeks to two years, and can spend its off time hailing laundry and groceries.
This will not be cheap, and the brand will matter. In my day Eagle Creek was the way to go, but I think it has changed by now. Don’t get wheels- they add weight and are unnecessary on a backpack. A zip-off daypack and straps that can be hidden are good features.
Beyond that, it doesn’t really matter. You can buy nice luggage and it will last a while, or cheap junk that gets thrown away after a few uses. Financially it works out about the same, mostly it depends on yours lifestyle.
Don’t let him pack too much! You really don’t need much for a semester. It’ll be over before he knows it.
FWIW, my Samsonite hard side case* has lasted through 20 years and at least 20 countries. Probably a couple of hundred flights in all. Judging by the Samsonite website, they don’t make them that way anymore, though. All I see is spinners, which are probably easier to tote around but easier to break.
I’ve never had a soft shell suitcase that made it through more than a dozen flights. Baggage handlers always break the wheels or tear the nylon. $80 sounds like a real bargain and the case should last him years. Make sure the carry-on can attach to the suitcase somehow.
Still, the soft stuff you’ve got should be fine for him if it’s just one or two flights to Kyoto. I question the backpack idea. I assume he’ll be staying put while he’s there? He’ll need a smallish backpack, not a trail pack or anything.
Thanks for the feedback, folks! I’m gonna pass on the purchase for the time being and call this thread up next year when it’s time to REALLY start figuring it all out.
I think it will really depend on the itinerary and how much other travelling around your son will do. If he’s just flying to Kyoto staying a few months and coming home, a couple large suitcases will be fine. But on my semester abroad we did a lot of moving around and return tickets were flexible, so people stayed and traveled on their own for a few weeks after the official end of the semester. In that case, having a good sized backpack and maybe one other piece of carryable luggage was the way to go.
I think you made the right choice. Samsonite is not longer well regarded, spinners are MUCH more fragile than fixed wheel luggage, and at this stage in life I’m doubtful that’s really what he needs. I eventually graduated to “grown up luggage” when I started taking business trips in my 30s, and had enough stability and space to store it properly.
A good travel backpack shouldn’t be too big (though they will definitely try to sell you one that is too big-- backpack bloat is a common rant among travellers.) I’m thinking something along the lines of this:
I’ve travelled with a similar pack as my primary luggage for over 16 years and maybe 25 countries, and the only repair I’ve had to make is replacing a lost buckle (which Eagle Creek sent right to me after just one email.) And much of this was hard travel in canoes, third-class trains, atop chicken busses, and in other sketchy circumstances around the world, sometimes for months on end.
Between the daypack and the expansion feature, it can work for anything from a long weekend to a three-month adventure. For other trips, including things like studying abroad, it’s the perfect carry-on. With a backpack, you’ll breeze past the crowds dragging their wheeled things through the airport trying to get to the immgration counter first. Wheels are the way to go for “Home-car-airport-taxi-hotel” type travel, but once you get off the well-paved path, they aren’t as helpful and are more likely to get stolen or rifled through. And when you aren’t travelling, it is just the right size for laundry or groceries, and since it folds flat it can be easily stored in dorm rooms.
Well-designed packs are just a dream to use. They are really works of art when it comes to design. Mine transforms from a backpack to a respectible-looking soft suitcase (for looking respectable at border crossings or looking inconspicuous strapped on top of a bus. There are just the right amount of pockets, including a flat document pocket which has been a lifesaver quite a few times. Every zipper has a robust locking ring. The straps can be adjusted in multiple ways for a perfect fit, and mine has removable metal inserts so that you can choose to prioritize lighter weight or more support. Mine has an expansion zipper to get a couple more inches of capacity when you are coming home with souveniers, and the daypack can be zipped on, stashed inside, or worn seperately. None of the bells and whistles are fussy or fragile- it’s just perfectly designed for the needs of a traveller.
Anyway, that’s enough evangelism for now. I wish I had a specific brand to recommend (Eagle Creek, unfortuantely, has given in to wheels and bloat.)
I second a good backpack with a zip-off daypack. We took our kids, 11 and 13, to southeast asia for 6 weeks and we all carried backpacks. Worked out awesomely well. I’m 60 now and still travel with a backpack, no checked baggage for me.
