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Do You Care if Your Luggage is Left-Handed or Right-Handed? I Do!

I remember dealing with left-hander issues back in kindergarten. I am sensitive to whether an item was made left-handed or right-handed. I lived with years of ink on the side of my hand, bumping elbows with dinner partners and ladling soup out of the ‘wrong’ side of a ladle. I’ve gotten very adept at adjusting to a right-hand world but really struggle finding the perfect luggage that is left-handed.

Left and right handed bags

When I go into a luggage store and ask to see their left-handed luggage, they look at me like I’m nuts, but I’m very serious. When I explain that I’m looking for a rollaboard that has its side handle on the left-side of the bag, then they almost get it but still wonder why I care about where the handle is.

Why do I care? When lifting my rollaboard into the plane’s overhead bin, I pick up the handle with my right hand but it’s my left-hand that steadies the bag and steers it into place. Using the opposite hands, my right just isn’t strong enough. If someone is already sitting in the seat below the overhead bin that I’m trying to use, they’re at risk of meeting the business end of my suitcase. I have doubts sometimes (no, I haven’t dropped my bag on anyone yet), but with my left-handed bag I never have an issue getting my bag up in the overhead bin easily.

And here’s a crazy confession, blasphemous to my fellow road warriors who never check a bag; when I do need to use my right-handed rollaboard, which has an extension panel that I sometimes need for longer trips, I would rather check my bag than deal with the unsteady bag-raising on the plane. My road warrior-ness would be severely questioned if my fellow flyers saw this unsteadiness!

Here’s my dilemma: I have a Delta Million-Miler gift to choose and I really would like to select the tweed Hartmann carry-on but the handle is on the right side. I could choose the Tiffany jewelry but I’d rather have a new bag (what kind of female am I to pass up jewelry??). So I remain undecided since the handle isn’t to my preference.

Travelers I’ve asked said they never thought about this before. We all have our travel quirks and this one is mine. Am I the only one who cares what side of a rollaboard the handle is on?

Leaves your thoughts below. Perhaps a luggage manufacturer or two will pick up on the idea to offer a line of luggage specifically made for us lefties!

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6 Comments

  1. Welcome to Boarding Area! I never thought of bags as having a handedness. I used cheap target bags for my first few years of traveling. After the third bag broke I decided to pay a little more for a Swiss bag and I always put the bag the wrong way to unzip it. I have had this bag for over a year and still cannot put it the correct way on a luggage rack. Now I know why.

    As a leftie I prefer to buy women’s clothes that still put zippers and buttons the traditional woman way instead of the man way.

  2. YES! I am a lefty, and I’ve got a TravelPro rollaboard that makes things oh-so-much easier when it comes to lifting into/out of cars, overheads, etc.

  3. Does any company make left handed luggage? I struggle with this as well and travel a great deal for work. So frustrating and would be worth an investment for me.

  4. Well I’ve got just the opposite dilemma here! I’m right-handed but because I saw this beauuuutiful rimowa in creamy white in Japan and smitten, I bought it without considering the fact that Japan drives on the left side! (now idk if that’s why the luggage is the way it is but here we are). When I decided it’s too pretty to not travel with a protector on it, I find out my luggage handles are on the LEFT side which means there are no existing protector case that would actually fit both the handles without me cutting it myself manually! Just thought I’d share since I thought your article was quite funny 🙂 and I’d match you with an unexpected one from a righty. Ps. if you hadn’t thought to purchase nor go to Japan for your luggage, here’s a big reason why you oughta! Or you can just buy the “Tiffany” of all luggage, my Rimowa off me! Haha but no seriously I had never thought about this until I’m personally confronted with a lefty’s dilemma but for a righty lol

  5. I know this is an old thread, but it sparked my interest, as my Rimowa luggage has the handle on the left side and I’m desperately looking for a protector case, as Janine (above) noted. Wondering if she (or anyone) has found oe.

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