Luggage

[jayali]

We have been lucky enough to go on two family vacations this year and have an upcoming trip to Italy in August (I assure you a RARE thing and two of the vacations were at the generosity of other family members!).

DS has the Duffle and Rolling Back Pack from the Pottery Barn Fairfax collection. However, as he has gotten bigger he has outgrown the duffle and to some extent the wheely back pack (as a carry on). So I am thinking that his carry-on, especially for the 9 hour flt to Rome, can be his duffle (which is definitely small enough to use as a carry-on), but now I would like to get a mid - to large size duffle and a suitcase to match.

Pottery Barn kids doesn't make a big suitcase or a large duffle option to match what he has already. Any suggestions?

The more I think about it the more I don't really care if they match, but I would like a fun color and something that works for a nine year old in terms of size and handle length. What do your kids use?

TIA!

[hillview]

LL Bean duffles rock.

[abh5e8]

yes...we LOVE LLB luggage. i prefer the soft side rolling suitcases...these. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/63930?feat=504166-GN3&page=carryall-rolling-pullman-medium

we also have some of the med duffle bags, which are also great. http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/63912?feat=506680-GN3&page=adventure-duffle-medium but, we use them just for driving trips. dh likes the small, soft sided duffles because he can pack them easily in the back of our SUV.

i'd like to get each member of our family on of the carryall rolling pullmans, but so far we just have 2. i can usually pack for all of us in the 2 we have, for a 3-5 day trip, but i like to pack pretty light.

op, i'm curious...why the duffle? i think a backpack + rolling suitcase is a great combo, especially for a child.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Hmm, I just pack us in communal rolling suitcases, vs a bag for each kid to manage. On our last flight we had 3 rolling suitcases (we needed stuff for a wedding otherwise we could have packed lighter) then everyone had a backpack with their snacks, activities and a change of undies and ts (just in case).

eta- we have 1 small and 1 medium LL Bean dufffle too. We just tend to use them more for road trips.

[Kindra178]

Love the LLB rolling ones too. We have both the quickload style as well as the regular.

[jayali]

The rolling backpack that he has is small so instead of getting another rolling back pack for this trip he will use his old rolling duffle, which is quite small, as his carry on. Eventually we will get something else to use as his carry-on, but I am trying to minimize the purchases for this trip. The first priority is a suitcase for him.
I usually do pack communally as we have been the victims of lost luggage! We plan on one suitcase for each of us (MAX) and pack communally. On our last trip we did with two suitcases for a week at disney for three of us.
I also am a heavy carry-on packer! I really am a nightmare. I make sure that I have a change of clothes for each of us and two for DS. So my carry-on is usually heavy. DS and DH only carry-on what is necessary for inflight and electronics. We have had some bad travel experiences with luggage and traveling at the tail end of stomach bugs, so I ALWAYS make sure that we have extra clothes at hand. I take the Vera Bradley large weekender and the tote with me. DH has a smaller carry-on case and now DS will carry on his small wheely duffle with what he wants on the plane.
I know I am a bad packer, but scarred permanently due to historical mishaps!!
Thanks for your input. Heading to LL Bean site now!