Travel hacks and advice

[riser4]

We've been happy with Delsey soft side bags. Looking at their models it looks like almost all of them are hardside now, which I have no experience with. They're all 4 wheel spinners now--mine are two wheel, which I prefer because you get more capacity for the same height bag compared to 4 wheel and I try to pack as much as I can in my carryon.

I definitely prefer two wheels because of the capacity.

[Meadow Skipper]

I have a bomber Osprey roller bag, I think it’s the Sojourn model because it has backpack mode which has been useful a couple times. It’s not a spinner, but it has large, kind of softish wheels, which is key for rough surfaces IMO. Fuck those noisy tiny wheeled ones anywhere but smooth floors.
Anyway, check out Osprey’s models.

https://www.osprey.com/travel/luggag...atures=Wheeled

https://www.osprey.com/featured/shop...ctions/sojourn

[plugboots]

Wife has a Gregory Quadro 22”, because her old REI blew up. I have the ridiculously expensive Briggs and Riley, (because I basically had to get a new carry-on on the way to the airport once). Being “hard”-sided the Quadro holds about the same amount and is a little bit lighter so I’m pretty impressed.
Milan. I traveled there a lot for my wine job. Great town. I was there once for fashion week and ate at the Armani restaurant and I had never seen so many beautiful people in my life. Wear black. It’s the only color anybody wears, (not dark grey). Most incredible Cicchetti. The duomo and the galleria nearby are incredible with a couple great museums just nearby.

[54-46]

Travelpro 2 wheels are bombproof. 22”. (FYI, Won’t meet Air Canada sizing - limit is 21.5”.)

Alternative with 4 wheels and inexpensive = TravelPro Maxlite.
Kid has one. Works.

Most of the time I just use my 45L Ortovox Haute Route. Fits in small bins like in a CRJ-700. Never get hassled for size. Current model is 40L.

Also have a 32L Ortovox Haute Route that works for stingy airlines with 8kg weight limit and fits my ski boots and still comes in under weight limit. Good on hill as well.

Kid also has Osprey Fairpoint 40L which is sturdy. Carries well.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[old goat]

BTW a pair of ski boot, stuffed with sox and base layers will fit in my carryon, along with a pair of ski pants (I wear the parka on)--enough gear to ski for a day on rentals if my checked skis don't show up.

I used to have a backpack convertible bag but I wound up not using it much. I've decided that backpacks are for backpacking and regular luggage is for everything else.

[spanky]

TravelPro 2-wheel looks up my alley. They offer bags from $145 to $365! I’m not quite sure I see the “value” in their “Platinum” bag

https://travelpro.com/collections/ca...19631221112930

Is it the charging ports?!?!?

Edit: the url has special characters in it that the board software tries to parse:

https://travelpro.com/collections/carry-on-luggage/products/platinum[emoji2400]-elite-22-expandable-carry-on-rollaboard[emoji2400]

[Buzzworthy]

Seems like a fantastic bargain

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

I like 2 wheel rollaboards, two less failure points than spinners. The travelpro wheels are duty, great on cobbles and replaceable.

[54-46]

Travelpro Crew on sale usually hits the sweet spot for me. Cheaper than platinum; more durable than lower levels.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[54-46]

Travelpro 2 wheels are bombproof. 22”. (FYI, Won’t meet Air Canada sizing - limit is 21.5”.)

Alternative with 4 wheels and inexpensive = TravelPro Maxlite.
Kid has one. Works.

Most of the time I just use my 45L Ortovox Haute Route. Fits in small bins like in a CRJ-700. Never get hassled for size. Current model is 40L.

Also have a 32L Ortovox Haute Route that works for stingy airlines with 8kg weight limit and fits my ski boots and still comes in under weight limit. Good on hill as well.

Kid also has Osprey Fairpoint 40L which is sturdy. Carries well.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Added photo w boots in Haute Route 32





Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[nickwm21]

I have Timbuk2’s roller. Highly recommend. Has PU skate wheels and a rugged handle with cycling style tape.

https://www.timbuk2.com/products/544...=&gad_source=1


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[cat in january]

Boots have always worked as my personal item and mine fit the new European size standard. As old goat mentions stuffed with ski socks.

Ski backpack as carryon. Ski bag has wheels.

[dan_pdx]

Mrs PDX went fullydown the rabbit hole on luggage and after a bunch of research, got a Hideo Wakamatsu tarpaulin rollaboard, this one: https://www.hideowakamatsu.com/colle...carry-on-black

I love it and steal it whenever possible. Light and bombproof. I have a Cotopaxi rollaboard and my wife's is way better.

[riser4]

Mrs PDX went fullydown the rabbit hole on luggage and after a bunch of research, got a Hideo Wakamatsu tarpaulin rollaboard, this one: https://www.hideowakamatsu.com/colle...carry-on-black

I love it and steal it whenever possible. Light and bombproof. I have a Cotopaxi rollaboard and my wife's is way better.

Would this be Upstate? I mean, it IS tarpitecture.

[spanky]

Thanks for the recommendations on TravelPro. I grabbed a FlightCrew5 22" Expandable Rollaboard.

[The AD]

Alternative with 4 wheels and inexpensive = TravelPro Maxlite.

I got one of those as a present for my wife recently and it's a nice, light bag. I have a similar one, but it's a few years old now. It has held up well. I like the four-wheel bags. You can always tip it onto two wheel for traveling over rougher surfaces.

I noticed Costco has a two bag Delsey set in stores right now. Looks like a standard carry-on size and a smaller size that will fit under the seat. I think it's under $150 for the pair.

[singlesline]

That timbuk2 looks good and you can never go wrong with the good Travelpro stuff, but I've really enjoyed my Eagle Creek roller.

I did eventually wear out the wheel bearings, but they sent me new ones. Obviously can't buy the same model (Hovercraft 22) anymore, but their stuff is solid and lifetime warrantied.

If you are OK with a little less structure, I'd be interested in seeing one of these in person: https://www.eaglecreek.com/products/...42791505232009
Even with the backpack straps (which are probably not comfortable for more than a few minutes, but could be nice if you are also picking up a bunch of checked luggage), the duffel design claims more capacity than the regular roller.

I definitely prefer two wheels because of the capacity.

And the durability of not having tiny little wheels sticking out. Spinners are mostly dumb IMHO. Marginally easier to navigate on perfectly smooth airport flooring...worse at everything else.

Travelpro 2 wheels are bombproof. 22”. (FYI, Won’t meet Air Canada sizing - limit is 21.5”.)

Alternative with 4 wheels and inexpensive = TravelPro Maxlite.
Kid has one. Works.

Most of the time I just use my 45L Ortovox Haute Route. Fits in small bins like in a CRJ-700. Never get hassled for size. Current model is 40L.

Also have a 32L Ortovox Haute Route that works for stingy airlines with 8kg weight limit and fits my ski boots and still comes in under weight limit. Good on hill as well.

Kid also has Osprey Fairpoint 40L which is sturdy. Carries well.

Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

I like my 40L RMU Mountain Briefcase a lot. Clamshell design easily swallows a pair of boots and bunch of extra gear (without even opening the 2" expansion zip), has a helmet carry hidden in a pocket, handles and every direction, straps to throw over a roller handle, backpack straps can stow away, kind of cool metal latch design for the compression straps. Looks classy enough that I often use it for work travel too.
Here's a picture from the internet:


I'd love to redesign it slightly (give me a Chat GPT backpack designer where I can say "Give me bag X but add feature Y from bag Z" and send it off to a sewing shop) for a couple reasons:
1. Even though I'm a minimal-pockets guy, it could really benefit from a second exterior pocket (probably along the top edge of the back face). Somewhere you can stuff a passport and boarding pass, throw your phone/keys/wallet while going through security, etc. It has the single rear pocket, but if you're using the helmet carry, you have to unzip that pocket.
2. Needs a water bottle carry option. Can sort of get away with a bottle with a carabiner clipped on top and tucked into a compression strap, but it is not ideal. An elastic mesh pocket the side where the clamshell folds would be plenty...IMHO it is a sin to design a "one bag" travel system that can't easily hold something like a 750 klean canteen.

Patagonia MLC is kind of in the same concept, but suffers from the same water bottle problem (unless you get the smaller "Mini MLC")

[bodywhomper]

Google is telling my wife that the current rates to IT on Air Portugal in June 2025 are low. It feels too early, no?

Also, wife used ChatGPT to create the first draft of a trip itinerary. She was impressed as it would hand taken us hours to put together that initial draft plan. I’m ChatGPT ignorant

[The AD]

I would never use AI for this because I consider the research part of the overall travel experience, but I can see how not everyone feels that way. It can take a lot of time.

[Foggy_Goggles]

Well that and the Lonely Planet Effect. You'll get the same responses as everyone else that asks the same question. But it probably works as a good first step. Like AD, you have to dick off on the internet doing something. "Chat GPT...find me a baller house with a pool here the paragliding LZ in Piedechinche, Colombia"

[bodywhomper]

It felt like we were spinning our wheels a lot doing research. Read multiple blogs, chat forums, and watched multiple vlogs. Have a few maps of the area, but we weren’t getting traction, which is a reason why I posted upthread. When I’ve watched peers’ summer travel in Europe with teens in the past few years, their trips have revolved around seeing family, been guided by recommendations of other friends that have been there, or they’ve been to the area before.

Now, what about my question related to air Portugal? My BIL travels with his young family about 3 months a year. His thought was it’s too early to buy flights but agrees that the air Portugal flights listed on Google are pretty low….

[alpinevibes]

It felt like we were spinning our wheels a lot doing research. Read multiple blogs, chat forums, and watched multiple vlogs. Have a few maps of the area, but we weren’t getting traction, which is a reason why I posted upthread. When I’ve watched peers’ summer travel in Europe with teens in the past few years, their trips have revolved around seeing family, been guided by recommendations of other friends that have been there, or they’ve been to the area before.

Now, what about my question related to air Portugal? My BIL travels with his young family about 3 months a year. His thought was it’s too early to buy flights but agrees that the air Portugal flights listed on Google are pretty low….

If you're trying to consolidate your trip to primarily the Dolomites, I would focus on spreading your time between a few towns as home bases and do day trips/hikes/outings from there. I would definitely plan on a refugio overnight stay where you can pay for bedding and full board; great experience. If you're looking to combine the Dolomites with something more regionally: Lago de Garda has cool towns, Venice while being "Venice"is cool and worth seeing. Looking East: Trieste is a cool, more low-key city. You could also do a cool little trip into Western Slovenia: Bovec and the Soca valley is really sweet.

I don't think it's too early to book flights, but what dates, airports and pricing are you seeing? We're usually booking 6-10mo out for international flights; usually as far out as possible as we are booking with miles. You can use Google Flights price tracker to give you a sense of historical price trends and it should give you a prediction on upcoming price trends.

[singlesline]

I would never use AI for this because I consider the research part of the overall travel experience, but I can see how not everyone feels that way. It can take a lot of time.

Eh, I just view it as part of the research. You don't have to just accept the itinerary Chat GPT gives you. Chat GPT also isn't "live" so it isn't going to be able to tell you specific things like train schedules (at least not accurate train schedules) or whether there happens to be a really cool special collection visiting the museum while you are in town.

Well that and the Lonely Planet Effect. You'll get the same responses as everyone else that asks the same question. But it probably works as a good first step. Like AD, you have to dick off on the internet doing something. "Chat GPT...find me a baller house with a pool here the paragliding LZ in Piedechinche, Colombia"

I actually think it has the potential to be better than that and avoid the lonely planet effect.

Sure, if everyone just starts a new GPT session and say "give me a 4 day itinerary in Mexico City" it will give you the same output.

But if you prompt it like:

"Hi, I'm a 38 year old man travelling with his pregnant wife and we are planning a trip. I really like food, both fine dining and street food, and would like it to be a focus of our trip. I enjoy museums and cultural institutions. We speak some spanish and are comfortable navigating off the beaten path. We might like to buy some souvenirs made by local artisans, but we don't like kitschy tourist markets filled with crap.

Please plan a 4 day itinerary in Mexico City"

and then you look at the results and say:

"I like X, Y and Z, but please add a morning trip to the pyramids"

It is still going to be basing it on whatever it has found from the internet, but you can tailor it to your wants and desires and tell it to add/remove things.

Not perfect as it doesn't actually know what it is doing, but this is one of the places where I could actually see AI being useful rather than just a dumb fad.

What if instead of Chat GPT, you were using a purpose built AI that used the large language model to make trip recommendations, but then had another layer on top that recognized key elements that need real-time data and handled them with specialized processors? Maybe it identifies restaurant recommendations and then highlights those for which reservations are currently available. It sees a train travel segment and fills in the actual live schedule from Eurostar. It chooses your dates and start/end locations based on live airline ticket feeds.

[The AD]

I think that's the panacea of automated travel planning and there's an opportunity for someone or some company to make a lot of money by pulling it off. It's probably not that far away.

[old goat]

I'd suggest finding a guidebook series whose writers seem compatible with your taste. Why reinvent the wheel.