Wanderful’s Beth Santos shares her triumphant tale of hands-free travel via luggage storage. Using LuggageHero for baggage storage can allow you to explore a city without that extra burden. Find out how you can get a free day of storage in cities around the world!

I have a confession: when it comes to travel, I often ignore small details in my own travel plans, trusting it will all work out.

Usually, it does. But sometimes, less so. And that’s when companies like LuggageHero are here to save us.

One of those small-detail oversights happened, for example, when I booked an adorable Airbnb on my recent trip to London: a fourth-floor walk-up that I couldn’t resist because it was in the cutest of neighborhoods and at a good price.

The detail I’d declined to think about was the fact that I’d be traveling with two enormous suitcases, a carry-on and a personal item (all mine), and by definition, a walk-up means there are no elevators.

By the time I arrived, having dragged my suitcases over cobblestones in the light mist of London rain and successfully lugged them up all floors through multiple trips, I realized that it wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought to gallivant through the streets of London with all of my (literal, and now possibly emotional) baggage.

The growing need for luggage storage

Yet in my defense, it’s not just me. The need for baggage storage during long days of travel is certainly growing.

Part of the reason is because of the introduction of low-fare flights, which often travel either very early in the morning or very late at night.

You can also pair that with the growth of the short-term rental economy, where there usually isn’t a place to store luggage like at a hotel bell desk.

It is now easier to travel than ever before, and our trips are shorter.

We can take weekend trips from Boston to Reykjavik rather than having to carve out a whole week for vacation. I was in and out of London in two days for a conference by choosing flights that arrived early in the morning and then left late. But that also means that we frequently need to check-out of our accommodations many hours before we get back onto our plane.

So, what do we do with our luggage?

Because no one wants to be that person showing up at that conference (or St Paul’s Cathedral, or Piccadilly Circus) with four enormous bags, completely winded. It just doesn’t look good (and in many cases, isn’t even allowed).

LuggageHero: The Hero We Might Not Have Known About, But We Really Needed

Getting ready for a day at WTM London and not having enough willpower to drag four pieces of luggage onto the Tube, I started Googling for a solution. It brought me to LuggageHero, an app that shows you where to store luggage, including in shops and small businesses around your destination, for just £1 per piece of luggage per hour.

Here’s how it worked:

First, I plugged in the address of the area I was in to find luggage storage near me. I was able to find multiple search results, as close as a 3-minute walk away, from hotels to cafes to small shops and businesses.

After that, I made a reservation with my expected arrival day. I could drop off and pick up my luggage anytime, with no penalty if I never showed up.

Finally, I arrived at my destination, pulled up my app, started the timer and handed off my luggage. Each piece of luggage was tagged with a LuggageHero tag and LuggageHero even provided access to the local wifi network in case I wasn’t on a data plan while traveling.

It was the smoothest, most lovely experience ever, and I was completely sold.

Not to mention, with two 50-lb suitcases crammed with computers and equipment, it was freeing to know that each piece of luggage was insured against damage, loss, and theft up to $3,000.

Wanderful members get a free day of luggage storage

After experiencing this unexpected and completely pleasant surprise in luggage storage, I emailed the LuggageHero team introducing myself and the Wanderful community.

It turns out, they have storage locations in over 35 cities worldwide, around Europe and even right in the USA.

And, because they’re truly amazing, they’re offering a day of baggage storage for *free* to every Wanderful member (members: you can find the details in the deals + discounts section of the Wanderful member platform).

I couldn’t recommend the experience more highly. And hope you have a chance to try it now, too!