What’s a baby boomer traveler to do when her ratty old black carry-on needs replacing? That was my dilemma as I prepared for our Northern Italian Road Trip and Seabourn Cruise. I wanted a bag that would fit wheels first into the overhead compartment, unlike my old one. The new carry-on also needed to be sturdy—but lightweight (remember, I’m a boomer)—and easy to maneuver. Of course the new bag should be spacious enough to hold everything that I pack into a carry-on. (Sh! Don’t tell anyone but I’m packing challenged.) Thanks to Briggs & Riley, I found the answer in their Transcend 20″ Carry-on Expandable Wide-Body Upright.
When I rolled my new Briggs & Riley Transcend Carry-on into the house, Alan took one look and said, “You’ll never get everything that you usually pack into that carry-on.”
Was he ever wrong. I packed everything I would need for 9 days on the road in Italy, something to make do for formal night on the ship (just in case our checked luggage was lost) and plenty of electronic paraphernalia so that I could write on the road. Guess what? I still had room to spare. So exactly how much did the Briggs & Riley Transcend Carry-on hold? Take a look at my packing list:
- 4 pair of slacks
- 1 pair crop pants
- warm-up jacket
- raincoat
- 10 blouses/vests/turtlenecks
- bathing suit
- small Lumix camera
- curling iron
- makeup (TSA approved)
- costume jewelry
- 2 Chico’s belts
- an assortment of underwear
- 1 pair dress shoes
- XCom Global Mi-Fi unit
- Power strip for use in our cruise suite
- Business cards, documents, notes
The Briggs & Riley Transcend 20″ Wide-body Carry-on has several features that I particularly like:
- The handle telescopes into an outside pocket making the interior of the bag completely flat—no more rolling underwear or clothes to create a flat surface for packing.
- A sturdy, wide handle that is comfortable to grip.
- An outside mesh pocket provides easy access storage for magazines, books and papers.
- Wide nylon garment securing panels keep clothes in place, meaning my clothes arrived less wrinkled.
- Wide wheels provide stable, easy turning. I had no problems with the bag tipping over like I experienced with my old bag.
And, there are several features that I didn’t need on this trip, including a garment hanging system, the zip-around expansion and the strap for attaching a smaller bag to the outside of the carry-on. In fact, during the trip I discovered several pockets for packing that I had missed. Drats! I could have packed even more.
At a listed retail price of $299, this is not a budget-priced carry-on. But baby boomers, you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to luggage. The quality features of a Briggs & Riley carry-on prove it as does the the lifetime warranty for accidental damage. And look what I found on Amazon— Briggs & Riley Luggage Transcend 20″ Expandable Upright Wide-body Carry-on – Sunset
for $229.
Disclosure: Briggs & Riley provided the Transcend 20″ Wide-body Carry-on for my review. A