Our Search for the Best Carry-On Luggage.

We are searching for the most effective piece of carry-on luggage. We started our search with soft shell carry-on pieces.

Be honest; how many bags are in your closet? Under your bed? If you’re like me, you have too many; backpacks, duffle bags, and luggage sets, but which one do you use? How do you pack it? How much will it cost to check a bag of clothes you probably won’t even wear? I discover new ideas to streamline our travel packing experience whenever we travel. We have mostly subscribed to a plan that everyone gets their own carry-on bag and personal item; if that’s not enough, you packed too much.

I prefer a typical wheeled suitcase, but the electronics always seem to dictate personal items, i.e. a backpack. I’m not sure there is an exact answer, but I have noticed that carry-on sizes matter, especially when flying on European airlines. So in the future, we will cater to the size that accommodates airlines like Ryan Air or our go-to “get to Europe” airline, French Bee. Oh, just a quick point before I get into this topic, carry-on bags that expand might not meet the carry-on size when you expand them.

I am not a fan of using duffle bags; I’m not a fan of the lack of integrity; things get sloppy. I opted to go with a backpack that can be carried like a suitcase, expanded like modern luggage, and has dedicated areas for electronics. To test the effectiveness during travel, I used it on an overnight trip for a class, a three-day, two-night trip to Atlantic City, NJ, and a six-day, five-night to Paris. I would say that this is not a bag meant for long trips, it fits as a carry-on, but it is too big for a personal item. The dedicated electronics section (a charging port with exterior access) is great for me. I often have a laptop with me, even if I don’t have any specific need for it on a trip. Since this bag is too big to be considered a personal item on a plane, one might not like getting up to retrieve stuff in an overhead bin. Personally, anywhere I go for 2-3 days will not be accompanied by a long flight, so I would probably just read a book or write a post as I am now on an under two-hour flight home from Disney.

LOVEVOOK Travel Backpack

So, let’s get into some key features of my LOVEVOOK Travel Backpack. When open, the clothing section has a side with two individual zipper pouches, one for anything that might spill and one that’s typical mesh. The opposite side is for your clothes, and it unzips to expand. The bag also comes with packing pods and a toiletry bag. There is a small zipper between the back padding that is a great place to store your passport, and it does have a sleeve to put it on the telescoping handle of wheeled luggage. In addition, there is a small zipper pouch on the side with a pop-out bottle holder and a key hook; I use this pocket for my keys, and the accessibility is excellent. The front face of the bag has a big zipper pocket, and a smaller zipper pocket that I find is great for whatever you might need right away, such as boarding passes, cable to plug into the bag charging port, and maybe the last-minute item you forgot to pack.

My Overall Thoughts on this Carry-on

Overall, I like this for an overnight or weekend bag where I only need one bag for everything. The pictures below are from the trip to Atlantic City, NJ, where I use this bag the most. We are an authorized distributor of LOVEVOOK bags, so we have a few other styles. One is a wide-mouth open laptop bag that my wife likes to use for her item when traveling, and it also has an external connection for a USB cable and an interior place to connect a portable charger. Lastly, we have the Quilted Weekender Duffle with a matching toiletry bag. While reading this, one might think we market these products because they were sent to use for free, but that is not the case. The initial bags we used were purchased; we only provided our opinion without bias. We are currently in contact with some companies to buy carry-on luggage to determine what works best and if we believe the higher-cost ones are worth the expense. Let us know your experiences; we love to hear what has worked or not worked for our readers. If anyone wants a LOVEVOOK bag, email or message us on social media. Mention this post, and the prices (including shipping) are as follows:

Travel Backpack w/ Packing Cubes: $40
Laptop Backpack: $30
Quilted Duffle w/ Toiletry Bag: $35

Here is my Travel Backpack; I only used one packing cube for this trip…
 

Backpack used by my wife…

Quilted Duffle with Toiletry Bag

Check out some of our other favorite travel items and accessories here.