New Luggage for 2026 - June 2026

We've been traveling with Away luggage for a few years. I typically use an Away Medium Flex and my wife has used an Away Carry-on Flex. Being about six-feet tall, I find it is a challenge to fit everything in a carry-on for any international trip over 2-3 weeks. At least once, when we combined a long cruise with a shorter land trip, we were able to use carry-on pieces for land travel and temporarily store our medium sized luggage.

My "Medium Flex" has worked well for several three to five week international trips - especially those with varying temperature ranges. However, opening the clam-shell designed luggage takes almost 2/3 of the bottom half of a king-sized bed and doesn't really fit on a common hotel luggage rack. 

Away recently released a new style luggage design with a top-opening lid, referred to as its "Topside" collection. This new design also includes a wheel lock - which prevents roll-away luggage on inclines. With a 100 day return option, I decided to place an order for the Topside Medium Trunk.   

I've included a few photos comparing my original Away Medium Flex to the Away Topside Medium Trunk. The latter does have a bit more capacity than the former. My first impression is that the interior or the Topside is rather cavernous. We use packing cubes and these will be needed to keep the larger packing area organized and easier to unpack. The locking wheels are an added bonus and will keep this luggage from sliding down our driveway.

My wife found the top-lid opening and wheel brake as value-added components. She ordered an Away Topside Bigger Carry-on Flex and it should arrive in about a week. Both Topside pieces will be olive green.

Many travelers prefer to only use carry-on luggage. This is a safer approach, but I've only experienced one lost bag (never found) over at least 30 international trips. When airlines were having published issues controlling checked luggage, we shipped a large piece from the US to our Greece hotel using Luggage Forward. We traveled on our flights to Greece with only a carry-on and small backpack. Shipping our luggage was worry-free but not inexpensive.

Statistics indicate a 0.63% risk of an airline delaying or mishandling your checked luggage. A smaller percent of this figure represents lost and never found luggage. Tight layovers, last minute plane changes and large international airport hubs can often result in delayed luggage. We do add AirTags to our checked and carry-on luggage but I'm not sure how much this helps. Travel insurance may be a better alternative (and maintaining an inventory of the items in your checked luggage!).  

Both are "Medium" Size Pieces
The Left is Clam-Shell and Right is Topside Design

Clam-Shell: Exterior 26"L x 18.5" W x 11" D 

Topside Exterior:  28.4" L x 16.8" W x 12.8" D

Elbe River Cruise - May 2026

We just returned from a visit to Berlin, followed by an Elbe River cruise from Wittenberg to Bad Schandau, and a final bus trip from Bad Schandau to Prague. Our last scheduled river stop at Decin, Czech Republic, from Bad Schandau, was not possible due to low water levels on the Elbe. Low water levels have become a recurrent issue on the Elbe. In fact, the previous cruise itinerary was unable to cruise at all as low water depths precluded river travel. We were lucky as moderate rain during one afternoon in Berlin and some tributary releases into the Elbe permitted us to only miss one of five scheduled port stops. Lately low water on the Elbe occurs earlier in the season (rather than early summer to early fall) due to climate changes.

Would we recommend an Elbe River cruise? A cruise on the Danube, Rhine, Yangtze or Mekong rivers would be among my higher recommendations for those new to river cruising. Frankly, the views along the Elbe - with the exception of the Saxon Switzerland National Park - were not very spectacular. Also, I suggest a very early spring cruise along the Elbe when the water level is likely to be high enough for sailing. The months of April and May have become unreliable for Elbe River cruising due to low water levels.

Berlin, Germany

This was our first time in Berlin. Jeremy Minberg, The Berlin Expert, met us for two half-day tours of the historic area of Berlin. Jeremy is recognized in Rick Steves' Berlin guide and is a friend of our cruise travel agent. Jeremy moved from the US and has lived in Berlin for the past 25 years. He has a wealth of knowledge about German history, monuments and cultural sights. Information from the guided walks provided us with a great appreciation of Berlin,

We also engaged an art historian to guide us to major exhibits in the Neues Museum and Bode Museum. These museums contain many artifacts and having someone to help kept us from being overloaded.

During our Berlin visit, we viewed the Reichstag, Jewish Museum, Museum Island, Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburg Gate, Soviet Memorial, Memorial to the Sinai and Roma People, Holocaust Memorial, Berlin Central Train Station and Trains to Life and Trains to Death Memorial to Children. 

We stayed at the Westin Grand located in the Mitte District. This was a perfect location for starting our historic area walking tour.

At the Top of the Reichstag

Golden Hat from the Bronze Age

Former Checkpoint Charlie

Memorial to Murdered Jews in Europe

Brandenburg Gate

Victoria, Goddess of Victory Rides on the Gate Top

Soviet Memorial to the 7,000 Soviet soldiers
that lost their lives during the Battle of Berlin,

Central Rail Station, Berlin

Trains to Life and Trains to Death Memorial

Looking Down Into Westin Grand Berlin Lobby

Wittenberg, Germany to Bad Schandau, Germany

Leaving Berlin, we boarded a bus to Wittenburg, our departure point for the Elbe. Along the 90 minute bus ride, we stopped in Potsdam. We toured Sanssouci Palace, a Rococo structure and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This palace was the summer residence for Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. 

The King brought potatoes to the region and, accordingly, potatoes are now placed on his grave.

Continuing on our bus trip, we made a brief stop at Glienicke Bridge. This bridge was the location of a prisoner exchange of Francis Gary Powers (US CIA U2 Pilot) and Rudolf Abel, a convicted Soviet KGB spy held by the US. The details of this exchange were portrayed in the movie, Bridge of Spies, with Tom Hanks.

A short distance from Meissen is Moritzburg Castle. This was the hunting lodge of Duke Moritz of Saxony. The castle was built between 1542 and 1546. Antlers from past hunts were mounted throughout the lodge. The "Speisesaal" dining room is impressive with 71 red deer antlers, some being over 400 years old.

Leaving the lodge, we took a short scenic rail trip past vineyards to our winery lunch stop at ‎⁨Schloss Wackerbarth⁩. 

Meissen

Meissen is known for its porcelain manufacturing. Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony, was key to supporting the development of fine porcelain in Germany. After extensive research and development, he established a porcelain factory in Meissen, in 1710. The factory continues today and is known for high quality and elaborate porcelain products.

Meissen Porcelain Painter

Saxon-Switzerland National Park, Bad Schandau

Our final stop on our Elbe River cruise was Bad Schandau. At this location, we took a bus to the Saxon-Switzerland National Park. There, we enjoyed viewing the tall and teep sandstone bluffs. Afterwards, we enjoyed a beer and pretzel before returning to the Viking Astrild.

Crew of the Viking Astrild, with a Couple of Extras

Prague, Czech Republic

We had a day and a half in Prague before returning to the US.  During this brief visit, we took a walking tour of the old and new town sections. With limited time, much of our visit was in the old town area.

The highlight of our Prague visit was the Lobkowicz Palace. This museum shared history, family paintings, artwork and cultural artifacts from the Lobkowicz family - which can be traced over 700 years. If you go early in the day, there are fewer visitors which permit a more leisurely viewing of exhibits.  

We were a bit less enthusiastic about the Prague Castle. There didn't seem much to see during this tour. We also walked along Golden Lane, to view the historic shops and residences, a UNESCO World Heritage site.