Passengers of the world unite: You have nothing to lose but your carry-on luggage. Relinquish the rollaboard and discover the freedom of under-the-seat travel. You won’t regret it.

My last two international flights have been backpack-only. I’ll never go back. Permit me here to list the benefits of flying commando. Disclaimer: No bulkhead or exit row seats please.

First and foremost, you no longer need to worry about fighting with some guy half your age and twice your size over the last few cubic inches in the overhead bin. No more gently explaining to some stranger that the overhead bin is for larger items. Her Burberry coat goes under the seat in front of her. Yes, in contact with the floor.

Gone forever are the endless vigils at the website just before check-in, trying to win the mouse-click lottery and join the low-numbered boarding group country club.

Do you know what “gate lice” are? According to an Atlantic article about the coming carry-on crisis in air travel, they’re what airline employees call passengers who, even with low-number boarding groups, hang out right near the boarding door so they can be first to jump in line and get in on the bin space land rush.

Who needs the hassle? Once you shed that carry-on, go hang with the proles in boarding group five, seven or even nine. You can waltz to your seat with the inner peace of a Shaolin monk. That space under the seat belongs to you, no matter when you board. Leaving your carry-on behind puts an end to boarding group class warfare. It fumigates gate lice.

Have you ever walked through an airport terminal completely hands-free? It’s exhilarating. Order your food in a restaurant line without constantly staring at the luggage left at your table to hold your place. Get up from your chair whenever you feel like it. Go where you want when you want.

All well and good, you say, but what about the time you save by skipping the baggage carousel? What about the risk of lost luggage? Balderdash. Stuff and nonsense.

I’ll concede that before the age of RFID tags, the internet, and baggage-tracking airline apps, concerns about lost luggage were reasonable. Today, though, I’d argue that the chances of a modern airline company losing your luggage are slim to none. Life is about trade-offs. You have to evaluate the risks of lost luggage against the freedom commando travel brings.

Besides, you’ve got your backpack. Would it kill you to put an extra change of clothes and some travel-sized toiletries inside? Maybe a book or two and your car keys?

Nor do I buy the time-saving argument. Any modern airline at any modern airport is going to have your luggage there within a minutes of your strolling up to the baggage carousel. For international flights, your bags will jump out of the bowels of the conveyor long before you’ve cleared customs.

For domestic flights, do you ‘really’ need to get to your hotel 10 minutes sooner? Don’t worry about the friend who’s waiting to pick you up. He’s going to wait in the cellphone waiting area until you call him and say “I’ve got my bags.”

Of course, there will always be exceptions. Maybe you’re traveling with kids on a long flight. Maybe you’ve got a musical instrument or family heirloom that needs to stay with you. In that case, you can still be grateful to all the backpack-only travelers on your flight who have helped make sure there’s space for your stuff.

Cancel the carry-on. Travel light, travel right!

Barry Fagin is senior fellow in technology policy at the Independence Institute in Denver. His views are his alone. Readers can contact Fagin at barry@faginfamily.net. He has recently returned from a scientific conference in Spain.