Away Luggage – Perfect Minimalist Luggage

We absolutely love our Away Luggage.  Yes, it’s a bit pricey (the one I have is $225) and you could get cheaper luggage. I prefer quality over quantity, so for me it’s a solid investment and I feel good about it.  And in the spirit of a “mostly” minimal life, I am willing to splurge on good quality products that offer value in an area that’s important in my life.  And travel is one of those areas.

My husband and I each own  “The Carry-On” and we absolutely love it.  We also purchased a third one in pink for our three kids to share, and when we travel (5 of us) we just use these Away suitcases and we each have a carry on backpack. We’ve gone two weeks with just that.  To some uber-minimalist packers and travelers that may not seem that impressive, but to many that’s traveling pretty light.   Like I say, we’re mostly minimal.  I’ll post some of our minimal travel tips soon.  The photo up above is of our real-life Away Luggage trio at the airport last summer.  In case you’re curious, I am gray, my husband is blue, and our girls are pink.

Why do we love it? 

• It’s the perfect size – “The Carry-On” Away Luggage is small enough to fit in the carry-on on domestic and international flights. It’s a bit smaller than some other carry-on bags, but it’s perfect as I am not stuck trying to jam it into an overhead space that it doesn’t quite fit into.  It slides in perfectly.
• It looks super sleek and dare I say beautiful – Yes, I care about aesthetics of my luggage (more so than my car now that I think about it). I love the way Away Luggage  I feel super cool walking through the airport with my luggage.  Until my kids start causing a scene, and then I avoid eye contact and just try to blend in.
• It’s easy to clean and care for – The outside material felt cheap to me when it first arrived, just thinner than I was expecting. The entire suitcase was lighter than I was initially expecting, and lighter than traditional luggage.  That’s actually a really nice thing in the end.  And the cheapness I initially though definitely went away after I started using it.  The material is tough and holds up really nicely.  And you can wipe it down really easily after a trip.  I actually wipe ours down after each trip really thoroughly and put it back into the cloth travel bag that it arrives with.  I now sort of enjoy the ritual of cleaning it and putting it away after a trip.
• It rolls beautifully – It has four 360° spinner wheels and it rolls and glides beautiful from a flat position, which I prefer, or carried at an angle on two wheels. It’s super easy to maneuver.  My kids can even roll it through airports quite easily and I can’t say the same for other types of luggage.
• It has just enough features, but not too much – The basic setup of the Away Luggage is that it has two sides/compartments to it, and a separator piece that has a zipper pocket (for thin items, papers, etc.). It also includes a fold-up laundry bag that snaps in.  I like the two sides, and it allows me a bit of separation but not an overwhelming amount of choices of where to put things.
• The battery pack and built-in lock are handy – While you don’t really need the battery pack, it’s a nice extra feature and handy while traveling. My husband ordered his without the battery pack to get a little extra packing space.  I find it interesting that their version with a battery is the same price as their version without a battery.  This is the other reason I prefer to order with a battery, it just seems like a better deal to me.  I can always remove the battery and use the battery container to pack random tiny items to not lose space (I’ve not tried this yet, but perhaps someday).
• Good return policy and lifetime guarantee – They have a generous return policy that you can try the bag for 100 days and if you don’t like it return it for a full refund (even if used). They also have a “limited lifetime warranty that covers any damage to the shell, wheels, handles, zippers, or anything else that functionally impairs the luggage.”

Treat yourself to upping your travel game and buy yourself a piece of Away Luggage, or better yet… but it for someone you love!  Again, if you want to aim for more minimal travel I’d suggest going with the “The Carry-On” as it’s easy to travel with and will challenge you to pack and travel more minimally.

Check out our Away Luggage out in the wild… 

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