All the Rick Steves luggage is 20% off til April 1 hurry "whle supplies last" (-:

Jane62 -- so how did the Mother Lode work out for you in Africa? Are you glad you brought it? I will be traveling to Africa next year. I am considering the Eagle Creek No Matter What Flashpoint Duffel and perhaps the Mother Lode. Now that you've used it -- what would you recommend?

If your inner Africa trips are on South African Airways, do they discourage wheels?

runner1000 - the MotherLode worked out well. I don't remember the others so much but this one seems easy to have organized, lots of space to see everything when it's open which I liked. The only issue with it for me is that I wanted to use it as a backpack but I also like to carry a smaller backpack for my sort of carry-on that I then use within the country as my day pack and you can't really carry two things as backpacks on your back, so then I ended up using the shoulder strap of the MotherLode which isn't quite as comfortable as using it as a backpack. You really can fit a lot in it and it is sturdy. My husband brought his own, bigger bag and me and each daughter carried our MotherLodes. I have since taken it on another trip to Africa and it worked well again.

deladeb I'm not sure what size planes you're talking about but you should check what they say when you purchase the tickets - they will tell you if they prefer non-wheeled luggage.

Thanks Jane. Wheels are OK for us I discovered.