Luggage options for a woman travelling solo?

Maya84

Hello everyone,

I'm planning a month-long trip to India in a few months, and was wondering about suitable luggage options for a petite woman travelling alone. I'll be travelling very light, but intend to bring back a lot of stuff including things like ayurvedic supplies.

Read a few mixed opinions about trolley cases and backpacks on here, and I've decided that maybe a medium to small roller case, such as the one shown below (from Antler) and a Camelbak daypack would do fine. I was thinking of leaving the trolley case at whatever hotel I'm staying at while exploring the cities and such. What do you think? Will I still be lugging around too much?

ghummakadz

You didn't supply an itinerary for your trip, so my reply's kinda generic. It's also based on my experiences in North India (Delhi & Himachal Pradesh).

The first lesson I learned about my luggage in India is that once you're in-country and out of the airport, roller luggage is useless. The little wheels on most roller luggage simply can't cope with the uneven, rocky and often totally unfinished state of Indian sidewalks and streets. On the other hand, once you're in India, you will most likely be handing a few rupaiyah to a porter or rickshaw wallah to lug your stuff from the taxi to your hotel or whatever.

I'm a petite woman, and I've travelled alone in India with a lot of luggage, and my advice is...don't. You're right to stick with just a couple bags. Make sure you can carry the lot on your own if you have to. In bus and train stations, you'll need to stay with your luggage to keep an eye on it, and you may or may not get help shovelling it into a bus. Definitely park anything you don't need to lug around (a lot of hotels have luggage storage).

So far, the best bag I've travelled with is a convertable roller-backpack from eBags. It rolls fine in airports and hotels, and readily turns into a comfortable backpack when I need to trundle around on the bus.

steven_ber

Hello Maya and welcome to indiamike.com

Don't know if this will help much.

You seem to have the right idea, a 'large' bag/case to store everything, but to be left at the hotel, and a small pack for walking about, but I'd suggest you go for a case that is wide, rather than high (when lying flat).

The roads and pathways in India can be dreadful, worse than you could ever imagine, so a narrow, but high case will be a nightmare to pull around, always rolling round and falling over.

I'm not saying a wider, flatter case will be a whole lot better, but it will be a bit better.

Also, you're thread prompted me to start the following thread.

'Modern' luggage, problems on trains.

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Baba

I have a trolley-cum-back-pack, but the pack is without hip belt, so not very comfortable. But it's nice that the daypack goes piggy-back on the main luggage. I also use porters: not only do they carry my stuff, but they also know the way or position of my coach on the platform. Available in 65l or 75l. I have the larger version. Not cheap, but I am extremely happy with this.

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Maya84

Hi ghummakadz and steven_ber, thank you both for your prompt replies.

ghummakadz: My itinery looks like this at the moment, although nothing's been finalised yet.

London - Delhi - Lucknow - Varanasi - Bandhavgarh - Khajuraho - Orchha - Agra - Bharatpur - Jaipur - Deogarh - Ranakpur - Udaipur - Mumbai - London

Seeing as I'm going to be walking about quite a bit, I think I'll take on board your advice and bypass the trolley case. I'll keep a lookout for convertible bags like yours since I do need the luggage space when coming back. I will also definitely make sure I can carry them both on my own. Have had a few experiences where I've only managed to survive thanks to kind strangers taking pity on me and carrying my bags. Ah noes, not again.

I'm also toying with the idea of a shoulder bag instead of a backpack, as it's quite hard to find a pack that fits my back, doesn't ride on the bum, and doesn't cause back pain after a day of carrying it about. If I do have luck in finding one, I'll post it here to help anyone else with the same problems. Anyway, appreciate your advice ghummakadz.

steven_ber: Thanks - I've discovered a whole lotta useful stuff on this board and it's making me more and more excited about my own little trip.

You're right, tall cases are a nightmare to drag around. I also took into account manoeverability and ability to fit under a train seat, etc. with my choice of trolley case. The trolley case in question measures 49 x 26 x 30 and is apparently "accepted as cabin size". Your thread on floor-to-berth heights should shed some light on whether it'll fit under a train seat. Glad to have sparked off another discussion.

Maya84

Interesting Baba. As per ghummakadz and your advice, I'm looking at trolley backpacks right now. They do pinch at the back and sides don't they though?

steven_ber

Do you need to go to Mumbai?

I love Mumbai, but would suggest returning to Delhi, after a trip round India you will see Delhi in a totally different light to when you first arrived.



I'd also suggest buying everything you want to take home AS LATE in your trip as possible, then you wont need to carry it round with you, you could also just buy an extra bag to carry the stuff home in.

Sama

Eaglecreek Switchback

This the bag I brought on my second trip to India and loved it! It is an awesome bag. My trip was for one month and I packed all my clothes and then some into this bag. I also brought a smaller bag with me to bring back goodies -- I traveled around for two weeks on trains and buses and brought the smaller bag with me, and left this one at the hotel. The Eaglecreek bag has a detachable backpack that I used as my "purse". If someone is strong enough, you can also put the entire bag on your back because it comes with straps like a backpack -- you'd have to be really strong tho!

Eaglecreek is very reputable company -- anything happens to the bag and they stand behind their product. The bag is pricey -- remember that you get what you pay for -- but sometimes you can find it discounted online. I would travel the world with this bag, that's how highly I recommend it.

go to ebags.com and check out Eaglecreek's other bags, I'm sure you'll find a suitable one for your trip.

since you are in London, here are the retailers in the UK where you can buy Eaglecreek bags.

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Maya84

Hehe, as it happens, I didn't originally plan on visiting Mumbai - just wanted to see an old friend of mine there. Maybe I can get him to come up to Delhi instead. I'll think about it.

And yep, could just get a simple 'extra luggage' bag over in India isn't it..

hmmm.. options, options..

jyotirmoy

From a tourist's point of view do spend a day or two in Delhi. I personally carry wheeled bags. Don't bring too many things. You can buy things that you may need in any metro in India at a much cheaper price

steven_ber

Visiting a friend’s house offers a better experience than any tourist destination, getting to see how people live and what is important to them is an eye-opener.
Only in India.

Maya84

Yep, I'm lucky in that I have a few good Indian friends who went to school with me in Sri Lanka, and then returned back to India. I'd like to arrange another trip to India purely to visit them all but since this is my first, I'm doing the tourist circuit to whet my appetite.

jyotirmoy

Bon apetit

Maya84

Wow, I really like the look of the Switchback. Browsing Eagle Creek's site right now - the travel bags really do look the part. Thanks for the recommendation, YogaGal.

ghummakadz

My go-bag is the eBags Router Wheeled Laptop convertible. It's a little bigger than will fit in a bus rack, because there's an extra couple inches for a laptop slot (have gear, will travel and geek).

I have successfully spent a couple weeks living out of just this bag on the road, including laptop gear...