Goodbye Old Friend

Traveling Companion

Today I said bon voyage hail and farewell to an essential part of my life for almost 20 years.   I worked in the travel industry and got the chance to literally see the world as part of both the job and for fun.   Around the late 1980's a new invention arrived - the suitcase on wheels - which was a big ole deal for those who remember lugging the gigantic American Touristers around.

This one is actually my second version, and it was super special because at that time only airline people had access to the cool TravelPro brand.  My good friend and co-worker Kathy found a way (I did not ask for details) to slip me into the American Airlines company store at DFW to buy my beauty.   This early iteration actually was never perfect - tended to tip forward if not packed just right - but I adored it.  Partly because of its heritage and exclusivity to the glam world of pilots and flight attendants, but mostly because it went with me everywhere.  Seriously - everywhere.

Over the years I had jobs that kept me in the air weekly - one required me to work in Dallas, Austin, and Atlanta EVERY week!   I became an expert packer, plane-sleeper, and could have written a book on the best places to eat, drink, and shop in dozens of airports.  My faithful TravelPro was always there - schlepping my stuff around the country and the world.

OK, so it was battered, many of the zipper pulls had long since disappeared - the victim of various airport conveyor belts, and you can see it no longer stood up too proudly.  I kept using it long past its prime - partly from frugality and the lack of desire to shop for another, but I also convinced myself that it looked worldly and experienced rather than shabby.  I know - rationalization.  The end came unexpectedly this week while preparing for a short road trip.  The pull-up handle locked and broke off.  Not repairable, not donate-able, not recycle-able.  Just a  major piece of my life headed for the landfill.

I left it in my hallway for 2 more days, finally taking a picture (above) and saying goodbye to my old friend who had accompanied me on so many adventures.  We've been hundreds of thousands of miles together, had some fun and saw some stuff, I'll tell ya.

If you ever wondered if the Organizer/Downsizer/De-clutterer suffers from stuff sentiment, here it is.  I'm laying bare my soul, my conflicts, and my limitations.  The memories are in my head and heart and in this little photograph.  It's enough, I guess.

 So, I sniffed farewell and placed it ever so gently into my big trash bin - seemed the least I could do.   Writing about it here seems to help me feel a little better, and I know my next model will be prettier and have the latest technological advances - like not tipping over.  But we'll never see the sights and live the younger life that TravelPro and I shared.   Next chapter.   RIP.