You know you need a new travel bag when the guy beside you on the plane asks if you’re a nun.
I feel a smidge of guilt and shame that I’m writing a style blog while carrying my roughed-up circa 1995 LL Bean navy blue deluxe book pack through the world’s airports. But if we’re going to be friends, dear reader, then honesty is a good policy. My name is Nicole, and I have a problem. My travel bag situation, well, vacuums.
Make no mistake: this pack has served me well (photo of its species above, from llbean.com). Back in the day, I thought it would be cool to have my initials monogrammed in lowercase letters rather than in broad-shouldered ALL CAPS. My middle “t” holds its crucifix arms above the snug little “n” and “s.”
I have a decent teaching bag, which set me back about $30 at TJ Maxx. The flaw is that it’s not quite big enough for my laptop. If I take work to a coffee shop, I bring an auxillary tote (I have a rainbow of them, so this is no problem). On a plane, it’s a different story.
On a flight this past weekend, I saw a woman carrying a mustard leather tote from Banana Republic that I’d ogled in the store. I like its edges serrated as though cut with pinking shears. But the top of the bag doesn’t completely close. For those of us with an anxious turn of mind, we worry: stuff falls out. Papers get lost. Disaster ensues.
I feel ready to make more of an investment in a bag that’s going to last longer than a semester or two. I want a bag that’s stylish, hard-working, roomy but sleek, polished but not boring. If the bag could also give me foot massages, remember to take my car in for an oil change, and bring me coffee in bed, that would be ideal.
Reader, I’m ready for the long haul. I hope that this time I’ll recognize true love when I see it.
What have been the travel bags you’ve fallen in love with? How did you two meet?