Cabin rucksack with wheels

For years, one of my favourite pieces of cabin luggage was a rucksack with wheels. In airports and railway stations I could pull it behind me, but on cobbled streets, steps and uneven pavements I could put it on my back and carry it like a normal rucksack.

This photograph was taken in Stockholm while I was travelling for work. It shows exactly why I liked this type of bag: wheels when the ground was smooth, shoulder straps when it was not.

Packing cubes for carry-on travel

I nearly always travelled with carry-on cabin luggage only. When I arrived in a European city for a conference, I often needed to get straight to the venue to begin the get-in and technical setup. Waiting at baggage reclaim was time I simply did not want to lose.

Packing cubes became one of the most useful ways of making that work. They compress a surprisingly large amount of clothing and make it much easier to organise everything inside a rucksack or small cabin bag.

I have used them on European work trips where I managed to pack an entire four-day trip into a backpack. The compression made a real difference, particularly when space was tight, and the sturdy zips have held up well for me over many events.

Travelling with carry-on luggage only meant making every bit of space count. Packing cubes helped me organise and compress enough clothing for several days without checking a bag into the hold.

High-quality USB-C charging cables — and always a spare

I always travelled with spare charging cables, and I never trusted the cheapest ones I could find. Cables were too important to my work for that. In event production, a failed cable can cause a much bigger problem than its price suggests, and I carried exactly the same attitude into my personal travel kit.

An event setup in Rome — a reminder of why I learned never to compromise on cables. Before the delegates arrived, we placed large black show-hide flats in front of all this cabling so the finished room looked clean and professional.

This INIU pack makes particular sense to me because you get two 2-metre USB-C to USB-C cables in one package. One cable goes into use and the other becomes the spare — exactly how I preferred to travel.

The cables are rated up to 240W, making them suitable for demanding USB-C devices as well as phones, tablets, earbuds and compatible laptops. The nylon-braided construction is also the sort of thing I look for in a travel cable because it has to survive being packed, unpacked, coiled and used repeatedly.

The 2-metre length is useful too. Hotel sockets are not always conveniently positioned beside the bed or desk, and a little extra cable length can make the difference between putting your phone somewhere sensible and balancing it in an awkward corner of the room.

Compact digital luggage scale

A luggage scale is one of those small travel items that can pay for itself very quickly. Avoiding even one overweight baggage fee can easily justify carrying one.

The FREETOO scale is very easy to use. Clip it onto the suitcase handle, lift the bag, and you get a clear reading almost immediately. The display is bright and easy to read, and the tare function is useful when you want a more accurate measurement.

One thing I often brought home for my son was a football shirt from the city I was visiting. That made it even more important to check my luggage weight before the journey home.

Checking the weight was just as important before the return trip. Football shirts, gifts and other things I picked up along the way could easily make a bag heavier than it had been on the outward journey.

Because the scale is compact and lightweight, it was easy to keep it in my hand luggage and check the weight again in the hotel before heading for the airport. That was much better than discovering at the check-in desk that I had gone over the airline’s allowance.

The build quality feels solid, and the strap is strong enough to handle heavier cases without feeling flimsy. With a capacity of up to 50kg, it is more than enough for normal airline luggage.