Review: Rick Steve's roller board carry on luggage: best of both worlds with hard shell case and expand-ability

Rick Steves has long  been the leading expert on European Travel and it so it is no surprise to this travel journalist that Steves hit a home run with his Ravenna Rolling Case.  It is the perfect traveling companion.  The Ravenna case is very sturdily made and at $189, with free shipping, is very reasonably priced considering the quality of the bag.   (Through Dec. 15, the luggage was being offered online on sale for just $151.99,, with free shipping.)

On a scale of one two five stars, this bag decidedly has earned five stars from me.

The luggage has a partial hard-shell case making it crush-resistant but at the same time stretchable to fut all the chachkies that you pick up along your trip.

Here's some of the specifics, the bag weighs less than eight pounds and is full expandable, so feel free to stash away.  But keep in mind, the case expands to be as much as two inches thicker, above the FAA carry on standards, so if you use that feature, you may be asked to check the bag.

The bag combines the best of both worlds with the hard shell case to protect the corners and to keep it from being crushed, but at the same time, with a cloth exterior that will stretch.  The outside also contains three pockets where you can put the smaller stuff within handy reach. The pockets are 6", 8 1/2" and 18" deep.

The roller feature on the bag is very sturdy.  I pulled it for about three miles this week through the streets of San Francisco and Los Angeles with no problem.   The bag's rollers kept rolling along as smooth as silk.

The carry-on's specifics are 21" x 14" x 9" (including wheels).   And it weights 7 1/4 pounds.  It comes in  black, plum and spruce blue.