I Travel Carry-On-Only With This (Technically Too Big) Duffel
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As a larger passenger — I’m six-foot-three — what I can fit in a standardcarry-ondiffers from what other travelers can fit. There’s more denim in myjeans, more X’s in my shirt labels, and more cowhide in my size 14boots.
For the past two years, across about a dozen flights on various airlines, I’ve been able to avoid baggage fees by optimizing my carry-on’s contents. And to do that, anything that is not clothing gets stashed in mypersonal-item bagof choice, theThule Aion. The bag strikes a near-perfect balance: It has the bulk storage of a duffel but is as easy to pack as a carry-on, and it offers just enough tech organization. It is a joy to use — but comes with some risk.
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The gamble? Technically, the Aion, with its roughly 20.5 inch–by–12 ⅝ inch–by–11 ¹³⁄₁₆–inch dimensions, is about 34 percent larger than what most airlines allow for a personal item. There’s a bit of gray area, though, with airlines like Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines, which don’t publish specific personal-item dimensions as long as the bag fits under the seat in front of you. And, honestly, the Aion’s 35-liter capacity isn’t much smaller than what qualifies as a standard carry-on (usually around 40 to 45 liters), so if an airline employee asked you to check it, they’d probably be justified.
Even so, this bag is worth the risk of getting called out. Unlike comparable options likeEagle Creek’s Migrate,Yeti’s Panga, andBellroy’s Classic Duffelthat have the standard zippered-cylinder shape, the Aion folds open nearly flat, like a book. Each half drops away from a padded center divider that includes sleeves for a 16-inch laptop and a 13-inch tablet, plus a zippered pocket for odds and ends. On either side is generous bulk storage — roughly half of the overall dimensions. One side also includes a TPU liner and a retractable frosted-plastic panel designed to corral dirty clothes, wet swimsuits, or sneakers.
The exterior is fairly simple: a zippered pocket for quick-access items like a phone, and next to it a stretchy sleeve for a water bottle. That sleeve is probably the bag’s biggest drawback. While it expands to grip a bottle up to about 3.5 inches wide — like Yeti, Hydro Flask, and even chunky Nalgene bottles — it holds it horizontally and not very securely, so if you tip the bag the wrong way, the bottle slides right out.
Around back is a pass-through sleeve that lets the bag slide over the handle of a rolling suitcase; when not in use, a magnet keeps it neatly closed. After shoving it under airplane seats with my feet and flinging it into cabs and Ubers, I’ve come to appreciate the waxed-canvas finish. It shrugs off light rain and develops a lived-in patina, which is ideal if you’re not the type to baby your luggage. The bag doesn’t have much structure, so if you’re not packing tech (or fragile things) and leave some room, you could stuff it under the seat.
I stash the bulkiest items I travel with in here: a toiletry kit and a tech pouch filled with chargers, cables, external drives, dongles, and earbuds. I might also tuck in my over-the-ear noise-canceling headphones, aportable battery, atravel pillow, and an inflatable seat cushion for flights longer than four hours. There’s usually still room for a mediumcompression cube, or two smaller ones, for odds and ends that didn’t make it into the carry-on.
While the bag is technically too large to count as a personal item, there are a couple of ways to make it work. First, I never use the included shoulder strap. The bag bulges too much when worn over the shoulder or cross-body. Instead, I slip it over the handle of my roller bag, which helps it blend in with the sea of ordinary travel-tote-topped suitcases waiting to board. Once seated, I compress the bag enough to wedge it under the seat in front of me until the plane reaches cruising altitude. And because each half opens independently, I can unzip just the side I need instead of rummaging through the whole thing mid-flight.
Other minimalist packing items we like
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Our favorite compression cubes let you pack more into the same amount of space.
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Get even more stuff into your packing cubes with these, which are "like Ziplocs for clothes."
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Waterproof and thoughtfully organized to bring order to all your cables and chargers.
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