Luggage

The massive luggage we took to Ireland.

Over the years I've had trips to various destinations with many different modes of transportation. Sometimes it's simply been a road trip, others a combination flight and road trip. Other times simply flying to my destination and relying on friends or family for the rest of my destinations. In every trip there had been one thing in common. Luggage. However, the type of luggage I use varied from trip to trip.

For scale, my huge bag.

One trip, a weekend in Michigan, I packed everything I needed in a simple backpack and carried it onto the plane. I felt so put together on this trip, everything jammed into one small pack that fit easily under my seat on the plane. That included some tunes on CD with my CD version of a Walkman to take for in-flight music and some extra CD's to play in my rental car.

My simple backpack.

On the other end of the scale, I had a trip to Ireland for three weeks. The luggage of choice for this trip? A massive suitcase that could double as a piece of furniture. There were many comments from the owners of the B&B's we stayed in on the size of the luggage. I had one of my own and mom had hers, plus her carry-on size rolling suitcase. How we managed to travel for three weeks with those pieces of rolling furniture is beyond me. All I know, that won't happen again. In fact, I sold my suitcase shortly after returning from Ireland. I have other bags, ones that aren't quite so massive and yet, can hold quite a bit of stuff.

Many other trips I've had luggage of various sizes and lately my choice have involved my pink polka dot squishy rolling duffel-style bag and a large purple duffel that collapses into itself. I love both of these items as they can hold a lot of stuff and don't really take a ton of room.  I guess there's something to be said for inexpensive luggage as both of these were either free or fairly cheap.

My pink polka-dot bag on my trip to Houston.

Regardless of the trip, the memories I pack into these bags, the thoughts they hold along with my clothes and various souvenirs they've held, these bags are special. They represent a new hope, a new journey, a destination I've never taken. They also represent the familiar, the knowledge that I may be heading off to explore a new and exciting destination or simply a trip home to visit my family. No matter what, these bags, my luggage, are all important to me. When I look at them, I wonder, where will I take them next?