I travel a lot. I’ve seen my way through many suitcases and carry-ons. When I moved to New York, I stopped in LA for a full day shopping trip with a client and my carry-on broke upon landing. I had my Uber driver stop at the nearest location for a replacement, and I ended up spending $100 at TJ Maxx for a bag that tipped over if anything was in it. The Maxxinista in me was bummed. It didn’t even hold much to begin with; once my toiletries and a pair of shoes were in, it was full. I decided I would just deal with it until it broke. It never did, and I finally decided it was ridiculous to still have it and upgraded recently.

The main reason I had it for so long was because I didn’t use it that often. Lojel bags won my search for the lightest and best looking and yet still affordable suitcases. So for the past few years, I’ve used either their large or medium suitcase and carried on a men’s black leather duffel that fits everything I need during the flight and all the extra stuff I collect on the road.

Which brings me to Away, hard to ignore with ads all over NYC and mailers to boot, but what sold me was their promise of easier packing. I went with The Bigger Carry-on which has two compartments, one designed for clothes with a compression level, the other for shoes, toiletries, and other hard objects. Genius! And it actually works!! I was able to put way more in this carry-on than I have ever been able to. The bag comes with an ejectable battery that can charge any phone up to 5x – which I wasn’t sure if I would use – but thanks to it, I’m writing this very piece on a flight. And with my schedule, their 100 day “use and abuse” trial is no pressure. My first trip with it was a 3 full day trip to Chicago. Ample space. Even handled all the bounty I bought on a Target escapade.

But the real test was packing for 2 weeks to Portugal (and a few days in Ireland at the end) – I knew my black duffel would handle some novels for the beach, my hat,  and my sandals to make it work but I packed last minute (not concise) and it fit everything beautifully. I just landed in Dublin for my connecting flight and spotted my gorgeous colored bag on the carousel immediately. After I threw my knee up to prop the bag… I realized happily, that habit can die now.

Away we go.

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