Location: Everywhere I've BeenAugust 22, 2010
Adventure #30
It's been almost a month since we said goodbye, and I still miss my trusty tweed travel companion. Nearly every trip I've taken over the past decade, this compact carry on reliably schlepped my goods in myriad conditions. Whether it was dragged over Dublin's cobblestone streets, stuffed in the back of my parent's blue minivan during family sojourns to Nebraska, hoisted on Venice's water taxis, or lugged repeatedly up and down my Budapest block last year when I switched apartments - the suitcase miraculously never exploded - it was lost a few times, but always returned home in its own time.
The suitcase was gifted to me by my parents when I was about 12 and I wanted what I called a "stewardess bag." It was my first suitcase that was all mine, and I adored it - which looking back, was obvious foreshadowing to my ongoing wanderlust. Since I didn't travel too much back then, I remember wheeling it around the garage to test its maneuverability or packing it for an overnight sleepover at a friend's house. While I can't recollect with complete clarity, I'm sure it accompanied me on my first trip abroad to Prague, and it came everywhere with me when I studied abroad. And while it never quite fit properly into carry on luggage bins, it did introduce me to a fleet of chivalrous men who would help me squeeze it into airplanes' overly tall storage spaces.
However, when its seams began to rip and its wheels started to rotate a little less smoothly than in its early days, I knew it was time to retire the beloved pack mule. So, my suitcase's last stand was carrying my goods from Denver to Dallas, where I hope it rests in peace while remembering its glory days as a wayfarer.
Don't write off the "Stew Bag" quite yet. She's still got a few AA miles yet to log. James went to Beaver Creek over Labor Day. He packed up in his room and when his ride honked outside, he came hopping down the stairs with ol' blue locked and loaded. He said, "Hey, look at this great bag I found up in my closet!" I didn't have the heart to tell him it was his sister-in-law's discard. Guess it is quite fitting she made at least one more trip back to Colorado!
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