The Jarvii If you’ve never heard of the Trunki, let me tell you about this awesome product. Trunki is a ride on suitcase for young children. Your kids can pack their most precious belongings inside the suitcase, and when you are at the airport they can sit on their suitcase and scoot around (or be pulled) to their destination. Here is a super cute video Trunki made to better demonstrate what they are all about. How cute is that?!
I personally love the Trunki. My kids now know that they are going on a vacation when I bring their Trunkis out. While I’m packing our large suitcases, they know they need to pack their Trunkis with the toys and books they want to bring on the trip. I feel like they are taking part in the preparation process of going on vacation. And they also don’t really bother me while I’m packing because they are making very thoughtful decisions about what they want to bring. The Trunki can also be used as an actual suitcase for clothes too. One side has what they call a teddybear seatbelt, which is just a locking elastic band that will hold the gear in place.
I also love how the Trunki doubles as a toy. My kids scoot around in their Trunkis much like they would with their balance bike or Scuttlebug that they own at home. It has two little small horns that act like handles they can hold on to when they scoot around. Another thing they do is they pull each other around, or make the Trunkis crash into each other (which I’m not a fan of). It’s just a great toy as well as suitcase!
It’s also made of durable plastic. These things are meant to take a beating and last, which is great for kids stuff. As I said before, my kids love making them crash and they still work perfectly fine save for a few dings here and there. But what child’s toy doesn’t come out unscathed? I can easily see my kids using this luggage for years.
The Trunki is approved hand luggage! It easily stows away under the seat in front or in the overhead bin. We usually keep the Trunki in the seat in front of the kids. When they want something, like food or a new toy, we just pull the Trunki out and get what they want.
Most importantly, I love how my kids can take a lot of their favorite stuff in something that isn’t a backpack. The only other real option for luggage for this age is perhaps a backpack, which my son has a tiger Skip Hop one. And I was concerned about him carrying something that would be heavy and its impact on his posture and back. This is one of the main reasons why I decided to buy one for my kids.
There are a few drawbacks about the Trunki of course. The Trunki is meant for kids 3 and up, and that’s mostly because of height (so if you have a very tall 3 year old, you might get away with it). My daughter last summer was not quite 2, and (as you can see in the second picture above) was too short to get her feet to touch the ground to really scoot around. She did like pulling her Trunki around the airport at least.
Another major draw back is that the Trunki is very difficult to steer. The wheels do not swivel, so it will require your child to steer it. So if your child doesn’t quite get how to steer, they’ll just keep running into things. But that’s how they learn, right? The same thing goes with pulling the Trunki. When my daughter pulled her Trunki around the airport, I was literally 2 inches behind it and steering the Trunki by nudging it with my foot here and there. Top tip: keep the leash short if your kid wants to pull their Trunki.
The thing my husband hates about the Trunki is how heavy it is. The Trunki weighs almost 4 pounds on its own. When you add in a few books and toys, it does get quite heavy. And children are notoriously slow, especially when you are in a hurry, or get tired. Inevitably you are left with carrying their bag on top of your own bag, which sucks when it is heavy.
I’m not a fan of the price tag. It is a pretty expensive piece of kit, especially when you have two kids! And I knew that the Trunki would be inappropriate for my daughter because she did not fall in the recommended age. But you can’t just buy the one child a Trunki and have the other one totally get pissed off. This summer will be better for sure because she’s more coordinated, aware, and has more stamina. But if you have to buy 2, it really hurts the pocketbook. At least they are going to last.
Overall, I really like the Trunki. We used it all last summer on our trips to Europe and OBX. My kids love them and I love it too. My husband hates them, but it takes a lot for him to really love something.
