Our Story

Hi, I’m Vanessa and my 6 year-old co-founder is Laila. Laila’s Luggage is a mommy and me travel duo set on making travel easier for kids (and their adult companions) by creating easy to carry travel activities for families on the go!

Laila’s Luggage started as a way to encourage black families to explore the world together and also provide tips to parents traveling with kids. Diversity in family travel is something I strive to show Laila, because as of now it’s not mainstream. Even in our own world explorations, we’re often one of the few if not the only black families visible. We started traveling when Laila was two months old, I introduced Laila to travel because I believe the best way I can teach her about the world is to show her. The cultures we have discovered together that are different from our own have been such a beautiful teaching experience that is hard to discover without immersion.

At one point in my life I traveled every weekend with Laila by plane for work and then every other weekend for the next six months. I didn’t grow up traveling often and my first experience of realizing just how big the world was happened when I moved from Dallas, Tx to Washington, DC to attend Howard University at 18 years old. We’ve covered over 20 countries together and I’ve visited nearly 30 countries by myself. Laila learning the extent of the world early in life has been and remains a priority for me.

Together, Laila and I launched easy to carry travel activities to keep kids busy during travel. I think the most difficult part of traveling with kids is keeping them occupied. My products are designed to keep kids busy and avoid tantrums and restlessness, thereby doing both parents a favor and those traveling with no kids. All of our products are well-made and durable to hold up through years of travel. The best part? They’re travel-themed and educational so kid’s minds aren’t on vacation even when their bodies are! With our products, kids will learn geography, language development and more — without the use of a screen. It was important that we design activities to limit screen time while traveling. We currently offer (3) card games, no bigger than a passport and an activity book designed to fit in a backpack. Our activity book eliminates the need to travel with a coloring book and games because it includes both. Our ultimate goal is to make travel less stressful for parents, so they’re excited to explore more often.