Suitcase question

[murrayg]

My partner and I are booked on a G Adventures trip in the middle of the year - trip length is 6 days and is only part of our holiday while in America. We will need to pack warm clothes for our tour but will need 'summer' clothes for after. We already have suitcases and do not want to buy a duffle bag each just for the tour. Do you believe that using our existing suitcases would be suitable?

[desiree2]

Hi
There are lots of posts about suitcases vs backpacks so you could probably search for those. In a nut shell, if your suitcase is small to medium then you shouldn't have any problems .

Desiree

[murrayg]

Thanks for the feedback Desiree. I have the feeling I will be purchasing two new duffel bags...

Regards
Murray

[twoeightnine]

As the person in charge of loading the trailer every morning I'll tell you that I much prefer my passengers to use a duffelbag or backpack. Space is limited in the trailers and everyone's luggage needs to stack properly. Suitcases come in so many different sizes and shapes that they can screw things up. If you've got a big hard suitcase it needs to go near the bottom, if the trailer is half packed it might not fit easily and end up moving around in transit. Soft bags are much easier to stack securely.

[murrayg]

Hi Twoeightnine. My partner and I have considered the comments posted and have concluded that we will take the advise of others and purchase rolling duffel bags. We are currently considering the purchase of a High Sierra AT5 model that is about 30x15x15 inches (76x38x38 cm). Would this be a more suitable size?

Regards
Murray

[twoeightnine]

Looks good to me. As long as it's not a giant suitcase I'm always happy.

[murrayg]

Thanks for the feedback.

[jaycw]

Yeah but for only a week, dont waste your money, just use the suitcases!!

[murrayg]

Hi Jaycw. That's what my partner and I were thinking. We will most likely be the ones carrying them around and so wouldn't be much of an issue. The downside is that we have two different sizes of suitcase, XL and small with nothing in between. As we are starting to get into more adventurous holiday styles, a duffle bag with wheels may be more suitable as it should store better on a bus.

[jaycw]

Thats easy than, just bring one small and one extra large. Between the two of you it should work perfectly and you can carry the big one!
. What trip are you going on by the way?

[murrayg]

We are doing the Yellowstone Active Escape (NUYE) tour. We have travelled to many USA cities and National Parks but this will be our first tour with G Adventures or any other small group tour. Hence my question regarding luggage and what is suitable. I have no doubt that the Duffle bag or back pack approach would fit more easily into a small bus, but it is an expense to purchase new luggage when we will only be staying in about 3 different hotels during the week. Couple this with the fact that we will be spending 2 weeks at other locations and you can see why we want to take larger suitcases.

I very much appreciate your response though. You have been very helpful.

[onyx007]

Another idea might be to send your big bag with something like FEDEX to your Destination and just take the things with you, which you'll need on your 6 day trip.

And by the way your luggage will not be in the bus but rather on top of the bus.

[desiree2]

Hi
Perhaps you could ask around and find out if any friends/relatives have something 'in between'. I've been on 3 G trips (Asia not US) and the transport was on coaches with the luggage placed underneath so size wasn't a problem - haven't ever seen luggage packed on a trailer but US trips might be different.
Desiree

[jaycw]

Ok let me tell you right now to stop worrying!

You are gonna be in a first world country for one week. ANY type of luggage will be fine, especially suitcase style.

The backpacks the dufflebag are only important when traveling to destinations without paved roads and where you may have to haul around your stuff to hop onto trains and up and down stair/hills like in India or somewhere (which I should mention I was there for over a month and a rolling duffle worked fine for me on and off the tour).

You will be in america, no need to buy new stuff for hundreds of dollars.

[murrayg]

Wow! I am so impressed with your responses. I think we will just use what we have for our first trip and make a call on what type of luggage we use for future trips based on our own personal experience. I believe the theme coming through this thread is that the decision on what to take should be governed by the the travel destination. I do agree that while we travel in the USA there should be no issue with using suitcases. Once again, thank you for your responses.