In Reply to: Luggage - Hard shell vs Soft shell posted by Nicki on Sunday, 11. November 2012 at 04:34 Bali Time:
Well I will answer your soft/hard advice question...
I have the soft option, I have a Paklite soft suitcase about 71cm which I swear by. It only cost me about $140 online. I have had it full and still easy to manouver. You can get heaps into it. It's very light too. The ONLY thing with the soft option is it does tend to get a bit dirtier. I have a red one and it's quite dirty, I haven't looked into how to clean it yet.
My sister has the hard shell suitcase and she also swears by hers. They expand quite well also and I guess there's a lot more protection with the hard shell.
The hard one's seem to be all the rage at the moment. But I think if you go either way, you won't lose.
Happy suitcase hunting.
Cheers
Lisa