International travel: duffle with backpack straps, cubed-out international carry-on sized backpack, roller bag with snap-on or looped-over accessory/laptop/shoulder bag?
Context: plane was late leaving Qingdao, arrived Incheon with about 30 minutes before my flight back to Seattle. Ran past everyone, first person to the arrival inspection gates. Of course the security guy needs to toss my bag to look at something.
Oh yeah, travel pieces in question: Arcteryx Covert ICO (Review: Arc'Teryx Covert I/C/O — life is a beautiful detail and the small nylon Arcteryx Index 10 shoulder bag. Before leaving the plane I attached the backpack straps to the ICO in preparation for running.
SO the security guy goes through my bag, attempts to put everything back in, of course that takes some time that I don’t have. I zip it all shut, and go barging out of there. Incheon is about the LOONNNNGEST terminal on planet earth, and of course we parked at the other end of the terminal from my Seattle flight, which is now leaving in less than 20 minutes.
That was the most painful mile run of my life. Granted I’d been sitting on a plane for 3 hours and had just spent a week in industrial China, so getting moving quickly was bound to be tough. But my luggage which I’d previously thought well of, did not seem well suited to an airport sprint.
The minimalist backpack straps of the Covert might be OK for hands-free carrying, but weren’t a secure way to attach that backpack load when really running. The Index shoulder bag swung wildly, somehow unzipped itself, and spilled pens and digital camera across the shiny terminal floor. Feet hurt pretty bad due to the blood pooling and then sudden need to run, with a backpack load.
I made the flight with about a minute to spare and they closed the door behind me. Props to the very nice Korean Delta employees who literally ran with me and encouraged me to run faster.
So question is: when you have to make a tight connection in a big airport, what’s the ideal piece/system of luggage? Can’t help but think that a good roller bag with really good wheels would have made that run less awful, and unloading the human body would allow for better terminal sprinting.
(I’m doing no less than 4 hour layovers internationally from now on )