Check out our cool new luggage!

Or are they backpacks? Well, they are both luggage and backpacks, but I think we'll call them backpacks. Anyhow, our new backpacks from Heys International showed up yesterday, just in time for our trip to England.

On one hand, they have wheels, similar to most new luggage that you would buy today. And, a pop up handle, so you can easily pull them along behind you. But, under an innovative fold down flap, there are ergonomically designed backpack straps!

Our Heys Luggage ePac17 Roller backpack. 

Unzip the rear flap. and there are the adjustable backpack straps.

And now it's a backpack!

These things are designed for "carry on" air travel. We like to travel light, and we don't like to check any baggage. Also, you know we like to travel inexpensively, and there are a lot of cut rate discount airlines in England and most of Europe. But to get the good prices you can't check any baggage and your carry on has to be within a certain size and weight. Even with the roller blade quality wheels, this backpack weighs only 5.8 lbs (2.6 kgs) . Ryanair, the famous cheap airline has the most stringent regulations for carry on baggage and the ePac17 Roller fits all the requirements. 

And with the 41" extending handle, it's easy to pull behind you when the terrain allows. When the terrain gets to rough, you can turn it into a backpack in less than 30 seconds.

Now for the really cool part.

In today's day and age, everybody has electronics with them. Personally, I love my 17" laptop and want to bring it with me. This backpack has a side loading sleeve so that you can easily and quickly carry your laptop with you in the backpack. Yes, even one as large as 17", hence the name ePac17 Roller.

Our couchsurfer June, showing off the side of the backpack.

Sliding the laptop into the SideSlider laptop pocket.

The laptop fits perfectly inside the foam padded pocket. Even has a 2" foam floor to absorb any vertical drop.

After I put the laptop in, I loaded the main compartment full of clothes and I'm still just over 8 kgs. So I think I'll have no problem staying below the stringent rules of carry on baggage by the discount airlines.

And of course, many secondary compartments to keep all your little things separate from the main compartment.

They retail for around $109 each. But they also have slightly smaller versions available for a 15" laptop. And of course you could get the largest one even if your laptop is smaller. Ruth also has the ePac17 Roller even though she just uses a little 10" netbook computer.

I think these things are going to be perfect for us, and of course we'll be letting you know as we go along how we make out with them. But so far, I'm impressed!

One last day of voting! The contest ends at 5:00pm eastern, so we won't be bugging you any more about this. After today, it will be up to the judges, but so far we are well into first place in our division and we will have a one in nine chance of winning this $12,000 trip to Australia.

Thanks to our loyal readers, my cousin Brenda who is in first place in her division, is now 146 votes ahead of the girl coming up behind her. That gives a bit of a cushion, but it's still awfully close. Please take 5 seconds to go vote for her here...

http://aussieexperiences.com/contest/entry/kangaroo-island-brenda-read/