Even at my road warrioringest worst, when I was flying somewhere literally every 36-48 hours for months, I refused to get a wheelie suitcase. None of the luggage companies I liked made them, and they just seemed like a sign of defeat, resigning yourself to a rootless, be-Dockered life of corporate servitude.
When I fly now, there is no more depressing sight than a giddy little kid pulling her toaster-sized Dora suitcase. She's excited, fascinated with The Trip, and thrilled that she gets a little suitcase of her very own--just like Daddy's.
Screw that. A kid doesn't need compartments for laundry, a detachable shoe bag, an expandable gussetted outside pocket whatever. Get a kid a kid's bag, for heaven's sake.
I have no idea how many dress shirts can fit inside Zid Zid's silver vinyl airplane backpack, and I don't care. I'm sure it can fit a loaf of t-shirts and some shorts, and one pair of long pants, a toothbrush, some Veggie Booty, the blankie and the Ugly Doll, what else does a kid need to carry?
Keep your kid safe from the Quiltys of the world by not embroidering her name on the outside. Instead, when the skies begin to fill with airplane backpacks, put a patch on the tail so you can tell them apart. Swing that thing by the straps, and watch your layovers turn into pickup skunkworks dogfights with all the other Zid Zid kids.
Zid Zid Airplane Backpack, $38 at Design Public [designpublic.com via swissmiss]
Classified Flight Test Patch: 509th Bomb Wing patch replica by Trevor Paglen and Cabinet Magazine, $10 [cabinetmagazine.org]
Plus it will look really cool when she starts going to raves...
"Tastes like chicken"--cute!