What Kind of Luggage Should I Buy?
Next week we’re heading to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico for a week of relaxation and exploration. I’m thinking of getting some new luggage. For short trips I tend to use this roadster bag I got in Morocco. For longer trips, though, I use an increasingly worn backpack that I bought eight years ago in Ireland. As my father sometimes says, it doesn’t owe me anything.
I’d like to get something new, but I face a vexing luggage selection problem best articulated in a table:
| Pros | Cons | |
| Backpack | Keeps your hands free, and it’s easy to carry long distances. | I always feel conspicuous wearing my ratty backpack into nice hotels. The older I get, the more conspicuous I feel. |
| Wheelie | Robust, professional and easy to wield in airports. | Pretty much useless outside of the smooth sidewalks of the western world. Awkward to carry. |
| Duffle bag | More formal than the backpack, less formal than the wheelie. | Looks kind of like a hockey bag. Not fun to carry over long distances. |
I know that the easy answer is “just man up and keep using the backpack”. But surely there are options I’m overlooking, aren’t there? And, no, I’m not going to buy any of that hard plastic luggage that everyone in Ireland seemed to own.
What are my other luggage options?
Cathy Beaumont 
Adriana 
