Air travel is a wondrous miracle that's led to experiences I'll treasure forever. It's because of the Wright Brothers that I've been able to bask in a Hawaiian sunrise, travel by dog sled through a neverending Arctic sunset, quaff Scotch in the Highlands, down mojitos in Havana. The list of things all of us are able to see, experience and accomplish by getting on an airplane is incalculably valuable.
That being said, I still hate it.
Modern air travel's long list of minor annoyances adds up into one royal pain in the ass. What's most frustrating is that so many of the inconveniences are out of our control: Officious staffers, mechanical problems, overpriced sustenance, logistical inefficiencies that have you spending hours in the wrong location. To say nothing of the unpleasantness of today's overcrowded flights.
While traveling there's only a couple of things you can control: The luggage you select, and the things you put into that luggage. While those seemingly minor choices won't ensure your plane is on time, they can go a long way towards making you more comfortable.
We've got a Crumpler bag and luggage review coming up, and before getting to it and explaining the bags we opted to borrow, I need to explain how your reviewer typically travels. All of us have developed our own traveling methodologies, and my idiosyncratic needs will surely overlap with yours at points and diverge wildly at others.
How I Travel: Two Types of Bags, No Checked Luggage
Crumpler has an absolutely bewildering array of product that we'd need to narrow down to two or three bags. Which begs the question, how do you select what types of bags to travel with?
Whether traveling for business or pleasure, a short trip or long, if it involves a plane, a train and/or pavement I always travel with two specific types of bags: A laptop backpack and a rolling carry-on with two wheels rather than four. (I also carry a smaller third bag of my own design, a sort of day bag that folds up into one of the two other bags, but it will not be relevant to these reviews.)