The Wanderlust Diaries: New thoughts on best carry on bag

Hotel Room Highs and Lows

The most exotic hotel room I’ve ever stayed in was one with a view of Mt. Everest. It was way up in the HImalayas—so high up that many guests ordered oxygen tanks from room service. No joke.

I was thinking about that crazy night at 13,000 feet above sea level when I read about some hotel rooms that are at the other extreme—BELOW sea level. Can you imagine sleeping underwater? As a scuba diver, I’d be all in. I like how the writer of the article describes seeing a shark out the window while in the bathtub. Crazzzy!

Another article, also in Conde Nast Traveler, names the most beautiful towns in America. One of them is Marfa, Texas. It just so happens that we host a trip to Marfa—and the nearby Big Bend National Park. Next one is coming up in 2025.

I love it when I see our destinations get some love. For instance, the acclaimed travel writer Pico Iyer recently recommended that everyone should visit Cuba and Vietnam. Besides being among the “most culturally rich, beautiful, and welcoming places I’ve ever been…you’re also getting a history lesson,” he says, “about places that have been so implicated in our recent history.”

Amen!

One Way Ticket to Hogwarts?

Airports are not known as centers of amusement or whimsey, but Austin’s airport is trying to relieve the drudgery and sterility of your time on the concourse. Located between gates 12 and 14 is “Imaginary Departures,” a surreal installation that invites travelers to imagine new destinations by asking them a series of abstract and esoteric questions. Participants then receive a printed boarding pass to the imaginary destination that suits them best.

We’re for anything that makes travel more fun. Check out a video here.

Going Soft—Again

So I wrote a whole story not long ago about how I’d repudiated my long-held position against hard-sided carry-on bags. Against all my expectations, I had fallen in love with Away’s Carry On Flex. Then, only a few months after my public crow eating, Away comes out with a soft version of the very same carry on that had just won me over.

Now I’m imagining a packing heaven, the best of both worlds, and I’ll be buying the new soft-sided Away bag pronto. Which means I may have a hard-sided case to give away!! Stay tuned.

Jeannie Ralston
CEO and Co-Founder

Coming This Fall: A Whole Schedule of Info Sessions

Click here to see how and when you can get all your travel questions answered.

The first Info Session is for Bologna, Italy: Tuesday, Sept. 3rd.

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