Thirty years of travel, one bad carry-on experiment, and a son who stole my luggage.
Here’s where I landed.

I spent 30 years in corporate travel before I started Studio M. I flew constantly. I had a system. And for most of that time, my system was Tumi. A good bag, a great bag, honestly. Total workhorse. She went everywhere with me and it earned every mile.

But when she started to fade, I got my first Away bag and something shifted. The design, the weight, the way it just worked. I was hooked. (I also loved the color – light blue. She was so pretty… when she was brand new. Not so much when it came out of baggage claim. Lesson learned)

Then my oldest son left for college and took it with him. Just took it. Didn’t ask. It’s his now, apparently. This is what happens when you raise children who have good taste.

In the meantime, I flirted with Beis for a while. It’s fine. It’s cute. But I kept coming back to Away. And now, full disclosure: I have affiliate links throughout this post, and I genuinely use this luggage. Both things are true and neither one cancels out the other. One more thing worth knowing — I’m a Fora travel advisor, and Fora is Away’s official travel agency partner. That’s not why I use the bags. That’s just a happy coincidence.

Here’s my whole kit… and the things on my shopping list.

Let’s Talk About the Carry-On Challenge

A few years ago, some friends dared me to take a two-week trip through Spain and Portugal with only a carry-on and a personal item. No checked bag. Just pack light, they said. It’ll be liberating, they said.

I did it. I want you to know that I did it. I made it work and I got through the trip and I came home with everything I brought. And I was mildly irritated the entire time. Not in a way that ruins a trip, but irritated in the low-level way where you’re in a beautiful hotel in Porto wishing you had the other pair of shoes.

My mother used to beam with pride when she didn’t have to check a bag. She wore it like a badge of honor. I love her. I do not share this particular value.

There is a version of travel where not checking a bag is the goal. I respect that version. It is not my version. No one is standing around baggage claim handing out gold stars for good packing. Don’t succumb to peer pressure. Bring the bag you actually want. Check it. Tip the porter. Move on.

That said, the carry-on is a genuinely great bag, and I use it all the time. Just not as my only bag for two weeks in Iberia.

The Luggage System

I’m a California girl. My travel life is Palm Springs long weekends, Fora trainings all over the country, Hawaii and Mexico trips I’ve taken more times than I can count, Europe when the timing lines up, and lately, a fair bit of Caribbean. I’m not usually packing for a safari (yet). I’m packing for the life I actually live. And this is what I actually use and/or really, really want.

The Carry-On

My most-used bag. Long weekends in Palm Springs, quick trips to Mexico, any flight where I want to keep it simple. The hard shell means it comes off the carousel looking exactly as it went on, which is more than I can say for soft sides I’ve tried. This is the bag I bring when I actually do want to travel light. Just not for two weeks in Europe.

Shop the The Carry-On →

The Medium in Navy

My four-to-seven-day bag. Hawaii, a week in Europe, anywhere the carry-on is going to leave me making choices I’ll regret. Navy is the right call. It hides everything, it doesn’t show wear, and it looks good in every airport I’ve dragged it through.

Shop the The Medium in Navy →

The Expandable Medium

I pack this when I know I’m coming home with more than I left with (which means I should always pack it, probably). Shopping in Mexico. A market somewhere. A few extra bottles of something I couldn’t leave behind. The expandable zip adds real space without changing the footprint of the bag, which means I’m not arriving at the gate playing luggage Tetris.

Shop the The Expandable Medium →

The Softside Garment Roller in Navy

This is on my wish list. I’ll use it for destination weddings, events, anything where I am not showing up with a wrinkled dress. The garment roller is the specific solution to a specific problem, and it solves it completely. If you’ve ever arrived somewhere and spent the first hour steaming everything you own, you understand.

Shop the The Softside Garment Roller in Navy →

The Large

Two weeks. Multiple stops. Any trip where I’ve thought about what I’m packing for more than ten minutes. The Large is for when the trip earns it. I don’t reach for it constantly, but when I need it, I really need it.

Shop the The Large →

The Tote

I currently have the Beis convertible bag and I have feelings about it. Specifically: it does not always fit under the seat in front of me, which is the one job. The one job a personal item has.

This is my next purchase. It’s going to hold my laptop, my eye mask, my book, a snack I bought at the gate, and my reading glasses (more on those later). It’s going to come in the car, on the plane, to the restaurant my first night because I haven’t unpacked yet. And it is going to fit under the seat every single time.

Shop the The Tote →

The Leather Tote

The elevated version of the tote for trips where the airport bag is also the dinner bag. When you need something that works at the pool bar and at the nice restaurant, this is it.

Shop the The Leather Tote →

The Quilted Backpack

I don’t own this yet and I want to be honest that I am not reall a backpack person. I rarely voluntarily hike anything. But I keep looking at this one because it’s structured and quilted and doesn’t look like you’re about to summit something — it looks like you made a deliberate choice. Day trips, beach days, wandering somewhere without a plan. My back has been asking me to become a backpack person for years. This might be the one that finally convinces me.

Shop the The Quilted Backpack →

What Goes Inside

The bags are only as good as what’s in them. These are the accessories that make the whole system work.

Compression packing cubes are not optional. Everything has a place, nothing shifts, and I can repack in under five minutes. This is the baseline now.

• Away Compression Packing Cubes — The system inside the system. I use multiple sets. I will never go back.
• Travel Pouches — For cords, adapters, small things. Keeps the bottom of the bag from becoming a situation. IYKYK.
• Bottle Covers — My skincare does not explode in my luggage. Neither should yours.
• Universal Travel Converter — One converter, every country. Get it, keep it in the bag, never think about it again.
• AirFly Adapter — Connects your wireless headphones to any airplane seat. You will buy this after your next long-haul flight anyway. Just get it now.
• Travel Steamer — Compact and fast. The reason I can skip the ‘everything is wrinkled’ phase of every trip.
• Anti-Theft Lanyard — For crowded places where I want my passport accessible but secure. Low-profile, high-value.
• Cruise Ship Hooks — Tiny, weightless, and genuinely transformative for cabin storage. If you cruise, these belong in your bag.

What I Wear on the Plane

My rule for travel days: comfortable enough to sleep (as if I could sleep on an airplane), pulled together enough that I’m not embarrassed at baggage claim. These are the pieces that have earned permanent rotation.

• Spanx Air Essentials Long Sleeve Top — Every long-haul flight. Soft enough to sleep in, polished enough to wear straight to wherever I’m going.
• Spanx Air Essentials Lounge Trousers — The other half of the set. Get both. Wear them together. Thank me later.
• Bleusalt 2-Yard Wrap — Blanket on the plane, scarf at dinner, layer when the restaurant is inexplicably freezing. The most versatile thing in my bag by a significant margin.
• Bleusalt 3-Yard Wrap — More coverage, same idea. Pick your size based on how cold you run.
• Sambas — My travel shoe. Walkable, stylish, goes with everything from the airport to dinner. I have worn these on every kind of trip and they have never let me down.
• Hobo Darcy Crossbody — When I want hands-free but something more considered than a backpack. Soft, beautiful, holds more than it looks like it should.
• Convertible Backpack — I don’t have this exact one, but I have something similar and it’s great for travel days where I need maximum practicality. Shifts between backpack and shoulder bag depending on what the day requires.

The Small Stuff That Earns Its Place

These are the things I notice when I don’t have them. Learned most of these lessons the hard way.

• Gravity Weighted Eye Mask — I am addicted to this eye mask and panic when I don’t remember to pack it. The weight is calming in a way I can’t fully explain. The blackout is complete. Worth every penny.
• Simple Modern Tumbler — Fill it at the gate, save twelve dollars on airport water, arrive hydrated. Basic math.
• Binoculars — For whale watching in Alaska, wildlife on hikes, anything worth seeing up close. Lightweight and completely worth the space.
• Reading Glasses — I have a pair in the tote and a pair in the carry-on. I have been caught without them once. I will not be caught again.

Planning a trip and want help building yours from the ground up?

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Affiliate disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through one of my links, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. As a Fora travel advisor — and yes, Fora is Away’s official travel agency partner — I only recommend what I actually use or want.