It came in the mail: Beautiful books and a snazzy suitcase

Test-driving a colorful carry-on

A week before COVID-19 made staying home the right thing for us to do, we had the chance to test drive the Roam luggage carry-on we were invited to design for ourselves.

We’ve been reading about these bags. And besides offering a line of 4 carry-ons and check-ins that are super light and durable, Roam lets each customer customize the color of their suitcase, from the front and back shells to the zipper, the wheels and the handle.

Here’s how our Jaunt XL turned out.

Pretty, right?

If we were to do it again, we’d go a bit wilder with the colors, but this design still stands out in a crowd.

We’re grounded, for now, so the bag has only been road-tested once.

But our Roam bag made it home nick-free after traveling as checked luggage to and from London, through a half dozen London Underground stations and a neighborhood with bumpy sidewalks.

Books we may have time to read

We love the fact that books show up in the Stuck at the Airport mailroom. But we don’t always have time to sit down and read them.

The upside of sheltering in place is that now we do.

Here are two recent arrivals we’ll spend time with this week.

Many national parks may be closed to visitors right now in the interest of social distancing, but Scenic Science of the National Parks – An Explorer’s Guide to Wildlife, Geology and Botany, by Emily Hoff and Maygen Keller, is a good armchair prep tool for when heading to a park makes sense.

The book is filled with scientific tidbits, insider tips, recommended hikes and notes on all sorts of wonders to explore in 60 national parks around the country.