It's no doubt that summer is the season of wanderlust—and having the right gear is essential. Whether you're flying cross-country or escaping the city for the ocean, let's face it: your bag better do the heavy lifting so you don't have to.

Because we all know your travel bag could use a bit of an upgrade, we're stoked to be giving away a free Catalina Deluxe travel bag from our friends at Lo & Sons. (Just scroll down to enter!) Need a little convincing? One of our writers took the bag for a spin from New York to Los Angeles. Check out her review below:

I frequently travel from New York to Los Angeles, and every time I bring a rolling suitcase and a duffle bag, along with my purse and laptop case. The steady roll of the suitcase is something I thought I'd never give up, but with all the additional baggage, the roll was no longer so exciting. So on my latest trip to L.A., I was thrilled to try something completely different in size, shape, and material. The Lo & Sons Catalina Deluxe is a bag that looks like it's made for vacation, with a relaxed fabric and vintage clubhouse aesthetic. But I was almost positive I wouldn't be able to fit everything I needed in it!

I was wrong. The bottom of the bag contains a separate unit, where I zipped up my shoes to keep them apart from my clothing. The top section of the bag, which also features some smaller zippered pockets for odds & ends, fit ten days worth of clothes, with extra room to spare for anything I picked up on the west coast.

Traveling with the bag was easy—the strap is cushioned, so even when it's stuffed, it didn't weigh on my shoulder in an uncomfortable way. It also easily fit in the overhead compartment on the plane, so no bag check! The best part: once in L.A. I transformed the bag from travel to beach bag—that rolling suitcase never was much good in the sand!

Ready to re-invent your travel? Enter in the form below for your chance to win! Gothamist LLC terms and conditions apply.

This post is brought to you by Lo & Sons.