A NIFTY SUITCASE TO MAKE OTHER AIR TRAVELLERS JEALOUS

I ALWAYS feel faintly guilty about the amount of technology I carry when airport security go through my bag. Like an alcoholic given away by the clinking bottles in their supermarket bag, I fish out laptop, tablet, phone, ebook reader, then still set off the scanner with my smartwatch. But I’m actually something of a Luddite – relatively speaking. I might be carrying my entire office with me, but I’ve not (yet) upgraded to ‘smart luggage’. Yes, of course it exists. Californian luggagemaker G-Ro (g-ro.com, €345) boasts that not only is its Carry-on suitcase impossible to lose, it also has two USB slots to charge your gadgets while queuing at check-in. This, I imagine, is the sort of showy little touch that will fill business travellers with joy while making everyone else hate them. The wheels are enormous, which means the G-Ro rolls over stairs, obstacles and lesser cases with the ease of a battle tank. The battery pack that recharges your phones can be removed and pocketed. The impossible-tolose part is a Tile Slim Bluetooth tracker. It pairs with an app and guides you to your case in a ‘getting warmer’ style, makes a tinkling noise, and shows you a map of its last-known location (although this may not be of much use if the case is already on its way to Jakarta). Alternatively, you could just buy a separate Tile Slim for 30 and slot it in your regular luggage, rather than blowing the cost of a mini-break on a fancy suitcase.