You may have seen them zipping around airports: small and colorful suitcases which toddlers and young children ride on. Traveling can be rough on a kid: from wearing backpacks and toting luggage to trying to keep up with the hustle of the airport. The Trunki is a fun suitcase alternative that doubles as something that the child can ride on while being pulled by a parent.
What age range is Trunki for? The Trunki is designed for children three and up. Children begin to outgrow the Trunki around age six.
The Trunki is incredibly popular for traveling children and suits all the wants and needs of a young adventurer. Trunki is made in the United Kingdom.
The Right Age for Trunki
Trunki is one of my favorite luggages for children over the age of 3 and usually not much older than 6. There are loads of features that make it perfect for children and incredibly versatile to ease the traveling process. They are a joy for the children, and they make traveling convenient, fun, and smart.
Fun Designs
Children love Trunki for its exterior design, which makes the luggage appear as different animals, bugs, and creatures. There are 21 different designs that will make your young child delighted to pick from. They can even design their own Trunki (Amazon link) if they want to be creative with it.
Some examples of designs your children can choose from:
- Skye the Spaceship- With the color scheme of a rocket, your star bound children will love this Trunki, and it also glows in the dark.
- Una the Unicorn- Rainbow colored and crowned with a horn, Una is a popular selection among the Trunks.
- Tipu Tiger- This Trunki is orange and black schemed after a tiger which many children are drawn to.
Image Credits: Christian Heilmann, Wikimedia Commons
Colors
The colors that Trunki comes in are eye-popping which children respond well to. As a bonus, the bright hues are easy to spot in crowds or among bags of other luggage. These fun colors and designs are sure to get your kids excited for any travel and might help in the packing process.
The Trunki’s come with stickers so that your child can personalize their luggage and give a face to their riding partner. Having a strap on the Trunki is nice for your child when because when they walk, they can easily pull it behind them.
Sturdiness
The Trunki is made with highly durable and sturdy plastic so that your child can ride safely without the luggage collapsing in. The Trunki can hold up to one-hundred pounds and can take quite the beating without showing the damage.
There are handles for the children to hold on to which are designed to look like horns and ears. Caution should be exercised when pulling the child. If you are tugging with too much force, or if your child is leaning back when you start moving, you can end up with a toppled child.
The locks for the Trunki (Amazon link) make it strong enough not to bust open while a child is riding on it. It also requires a specifically made key for the Trunk so that the rattling of being pulled around isn’t causing it to unlatch itself.
The Right Size and Storage
The Trunki is fun and looks great, but what about luggage space? The Trunki is designed to give you great use of its space with easy to use pockets and an internal strap or teddy bear seatbelt to hold things tightly to the top. In total there are 18 liters of packing capacity, which is enough for even those extended travels.
Without being packed, the Trunki by itself weighs a light 3.8 pounds. Trunkis are lightweight, and the strap can attach to both ends making it a shoulder strap. This makes it easy to bring as carry-on luggage if it meets the restrictions of the airline.
A Trunki is 46cm x 31cm x 20cm, so it stows away easily whether packed into a car, a plane, or a train. They are usually small enough to fit under an airplane seat, but it may not meet a weight restriction if it is packed full.
The Trunki has enough space to pack clothes, snacks, toys, and any equipment your child needs for either the flight or the stay.
When is Your Child Too Big?
Taller children will find it harder using the Trunki at an earlier age than those small kids. If your child has reached over 100 pounds, then they should no longer ride on the Trunki, but it still works great to pull behind and carry onto planes.
If your child still enjoys riding the Trunki, there are alternatives made which support the height and weight of children over the Trunki age or luggage that is better tailored to the need of an adolescent.
Your Child Might be Too Small
If your child is 2, they may be able to ride Trunki as long as they can balance themselves while the Trunki is on the move. It isn’t for use for anyone under the age of two. The sudden movements from pulling the Trunki can cause the child to fall and receive an injury.
Your child should fit comfortably on it while being able to adjust themselves while being pulled along. A baby might not have the strength to hold themselves in the center of the Trunki while.
Easy Travel for Your Young Child
Whoever is traveling with the child will be safe at easy knowing that they are pulling the child directly behind them instead of having to constantly peak over the shoulder or carry the child with their stuff as well. The children don’t get tired from running through the airport to make it from one terminal to the next, and they are always attached to the strap.
The Trunki is easy to maneuver for either the parent pulling or if the child is pulling the luggage themselves. Using a strap makes it much easier for a child to pull then a rod.
Can Trunki Ever Be Inconvenient to Travel With?
Some airlines might restrict you using Trunki as hand luggage as it won’t fit their seat requirements. In this case, you’d have to check it as regular luggage which can cost extra. If the seat dimensions are just slightly above the Trunki, then it might be difficult to get the Trunki in and out of the space, due to the Trunki’s rigid and sturdy nature.
Check your airline’s specs for hand luggage before you assume Trunki can fit in hand luggage areas.
It is recommended by the company that you don’t have Trunki stored with other luggage. This is out of concern that when baggage is being stored below, it might take damage from how it is handled. You might not want to find your child’s luggage with a crack or broken wheel, but if the airline won’t let you take one as a carry on then trust in the Trunki’s sturdy design.
Need More Space?
There is a Trunki tidy bag which is easy to carry and can be fit inside of the Trunki. These are great for taking activities on a plane or car ride that makes it easy to access for your child. A good backpack with a full Trunki has seemed to suit most Trunki users.
Want to Join the Fun?
Trunki has released a piece of luggage, which is a comfortable seat for adults. This can help in making waiting in those long travel lines bearable. Unfortunately, they don’t come in the adorable designs which the Trunki do, but it’ll still ease your flying pains.
Tips for Traveling with Children
There are a few tips beyond using a Trunki (Amazon link) that might make traveling with children even more efficient.
- Snacks and Toys
- Separate Flights
- Choose the Right Locations
- Fly in the Daytime
Long or short flights, you’re going to want to bring some handy snacks and toys. We all know children get hungry on a dime and bored with things just as fast. If you have snacks ready and toys that keep your child occupied for long stints, then you’ll be ready to combat the hunger and boredom.
When traveling with children, try to break up your flights. This can give you some breaks during those long travels to get out and stretch the legs and let your child get out some pent-up energy. Just be careful not to break it up too much, or you might spend half of your time traveling
Make sure to choose your travel destinations carefully. You’ll want it to be somewhere with places that are good with children and will be easy to entertain them. If you end a long journey with a destination not well suited for children, then you might have some pretty antsy children on your hands. Locations with theme parks, water parks, beaches, and shows make great places to take your children where you can find entertainment and they can as well.
To help you pick a proper location for you and the kids, you can buy a travel guide on Amazon for some great insight to travel locations that may suit you and your family.
It’s best to fly during the daytime when you have your children with you. This makes it easier to transition and get off of flights rather than having to wake up your child and possibly make them a cranky traveling partner.
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