R.I.P 'Best bag of the decade(s)' 1993-2010

There are few things I pride myself on as much as my 1993 BASIC EQUIPMENT bag.I could enter a train station in my underwear and receive less of an ovation than I do with this bag. Being bright teal, black,purple and blue I can assume most people think I have a couple trapper keepers and my little ponies in there, but they're far from right. It's not a joke. I actually use this bag!

As people stare at me in complete horror, I also stare back. How do you get your face to stay like that??? I've seen people laugh. This.. this I like. It's gutsy. It says, 'your bag is atrocious, and I'm going to laugh. Right at you. Right at your face. Right at that thing on your arm that makes me wonder if you've been in a closet for 17 years'.

At first, I felt the attention to be unwarranted. I'm a back packer, what about anything I have says fashion?? I'm SUPPOSE to skirt on the outsides, unnoticed and unjudged. Why are you stopping to stare? You could atleast stare and continue walking!! Clearly these people don't have appropriate decision making skills. This is CLASSIC, people! TIMELESS. HELLO!!






The reason I bring this up, is because a sad day has come. My dear bag has a broken strap. Among other things, there is some very loose stitching, the bottom may or may not fall out, and two zippers are broken. I could throw it away, but it has almost taken on a personality of its own.It makes me laugh. ALL the time. And if something brings so much good to your life, how can it be bad??

In a way we look forward to travel days. It brings smiles to both of our faces as we watch peoples heads tilt further and further to one direction as they see that these colors at one point were put together deliberately. Maybe they missed the memo that we left all of our vanity back at home in our dressers with our style and taste.

All of this aside, I know there will be no smile on my face the day we're on a 2 mile walk to find our hotel and the bottom gives out. That, however unstylishly stylish, will simply be not funny at all. So, by the time we leave for Italy (3 days!) this bag will have died and gone to Kohls' heaven.

Against all odds this bag has done quite alot for me. It taught me to not take myself so seriously (clearly other people don't!), a good dose of humor can be any long days remedy, and that life's funniest jokes are typically at your own expense. So, the least I can do is give this bag a post.