For the Minimalist

So far so good. The terrazzo carry-on pro is very beautiful and scratches turned out not very visible. I especially love the front pocket, with this pro size, I can fit in a 15 inch MacBook Air but only in the pocket outside of the webbed one since I stuffed the inside of the luggage too much. The front pocket does take some space of inside the luggage so I think the pro version’s inside storage capacity is less than the regular version without front pocket.

I ordered the compression cubes together with this when the luggage was in stock and cubes are back ordered. Even though the luggage was in stock, Monos was going to wait until the cubes are restocked then ship my order altogether. I needed the luggage earlier so reached out to Monos, and they kindly shipped the luggage to me first and then the cubes arrived one month after. So just an FYI for people who are going to order back ordered items together with in stock ones.

This is a fantastic carry-on suitcase! Extremely pleased with my purchase.

I travel 200,000 air miles per year. I need a carry-on that is lightweight, durable and flexible. Also, I will be traveling extensively in Europe and thus need a carry-on that is compliant with the more strict international carry-on size limits. I have been using a soft-sided Hartmann carry-on bag the past five years with little complaint. My reason for buying the Monos carry-on is a desire for a stronger outer shell. Soft sided bags can get crushed in the overhead bin of an airplane so I wanted a bag that will hold up and give some extra protection to my camera gear. The Monos carry-on has exceeded my expectations!

The interior design of the Monos carry-on maximizes space. I like that the bag opens into two halves. When open, the right side of the bag has a compression pad that reduces the volume of my clothing by about 40%. Impressive for a built-in compression pad. I have easily packed for three or four days on just the right side of the bag by using the built-in compression pad.

The left side of the bag has a zippered compartment that easily holds two or three days worth of clothing. It seemingly doubles as a divider for wet or soiled clothing. You could also use it for incidentals or health and beauty items.

The front of the bag has a zippered pouch that accommodates a laptop computer or an iPad and other travel items such as a passport, earbuds, headphones, etc. This pouch…

I waited to write this review until I had used the suitcase a couple of times on a trip. The first thing to note is negative - it is necessarily small. This means that you will always be able to carry it on a flight, but limits how much you can put in it - no surprise there. The rest is all good.

The suitcase is nicely designed and comes with some nice touches. First the wheels and rolling - it rolls very easily; I actually typically spin it around in circles with thumb and forefinger as I walk, so that gives you a sense of the smoothness of rolling. Next point, the main compartment. This comes with a flat insert that one can put a suit in. Well, I don't do that, but I DO find that insert very helpful because it keeps the clothes underneath contained and flat. Also the buckles on this side of the suitcase are very cleverly designed and exceptionally easy to use. The other side of the suitcase has a zippered cover that compartmentalizes it. This is a nice feature for keeping items neat and organized. The zippered flap itself has a zippered compartment - the compartment is good for storing things but suffers from being too tight; it's hard to fit anything in there that isn't very thin. I recommend to Monos to relax the tightness or increase the elasticity of this compartment to make it more functional (although then the inside of the bag won't look as crisp of course). The compartment itself comes with some useful nylon bags that I use for dirty clothes; this is a cute…