I travel a lot with my son - at this point (age 3.5) he’d probably be eligible for his own platinum membership if we were more consistent about which airline we flew.
When we travel by car or by plane, we use the Maclaren Mark II, which claims to be about 7 lbs. it’s light, compact, very sturdy, has both sun shade and rain over, and is comfortable for both rider and driver. The latter is really important; many lightweight “umbrella” strollers are really short which means stooping down while pushing - not good for the back. Maclarens strollers tend to be nice and tall and the MkII might even be the tallest.
We also have a “Sunday stroller” which is bigger and better for longer walks, especially outdoors. For that it’s the Britax B-Safe (or something). Biggger wheels and suspension makes it better for rough terrain, and it’s big enough to carry enough gear for a full day tour. Also, it reclines for better napping, especially for younger kids.
As for compact strollers, I personally haven’t found them to fit our needs; while the clever folding seems like it would be a great advantage, for the most part a simpler folding mechanism is all that’s needed to fit most places. Our MkII could fit in an overhead bin but is much more easily gate-checked. The one time I wished I had something super compact was touring San Fran recently, when pushing an empty stroller was cumbersome. But the MkII can be worn over the shoulder just fine, so it wasn’t a big deal.
This homemade stroller gets makes for being hand-crafted, but as others point out, lacks critical features for maneuverability and comfort. After field testing and a few revisions it would probably end up pretty similar to other compact strollers already available.
In short, strollers don’t actually suck. There are, in fact, options for just about every situation. That’s because there are so many people who become parents, and in many that inspires a “I could do this better” moment either in strollers, diaper bags, kids clothes, books, toys, or some other baby gear. That’s not to say that there stilll isn’t room for improvement, but the category of baby stuff is an area with a high rate of innovation that is already pretty evolved.
