It's in the Bag...

My suitcase weighed almost as much as I did. It was my final year in college and I was going to Italy for summer study. Somehow I had shoved my entire closet into a suitcase that was so big an 8-year old child could have hid in it. After straining to lift the bag into the trunk, my step-dad asked, "Are you going to be able to carry this around?" Of course, I replied. After all, I only have to pick it up off the luggage carousel. Wrong. I lugged it through train stations, where it got stuck in turnstiles as passersby muttered "pazza" (crazy). I shoved it into bathroom stalls, where I had to channel my inner acrobat. But the final straw was the big, blue bruises I got from kicking, pushing and pulling it up 100 steps of an abandoned bus station. By the end, my "closet" had been donated to street kids and old ladies.

Yep, I'm fitting 5 months in this bag

That's why I'm committed to the one carry-on bag rule this trip. To find that bag, I walked into Michael Bruno’s Luggage on Market Street. Lou, the exuberant owner, had me fixed up in 5 minutes. I walked out with a new Timbuk2 bag. It's only slightly larger than a laptop bag. Perfect, it's all I need!

Which made me think, how much do I really need? Forced to focus on essentials, there's a lot that won't make the cut. But if I can live 5 months on what's in my laptop bag, how much nonessential "baggage" am I carrying around every day? 

We all have shoes we don't wear, phone numbers we don't call and things we cling to "just in case". But beyond clothes and contacts; what other beliefs do we hoard in our hearts and minds? What do we let clutter our lives to the point we can't focus on what's important? Do we really have as little faith in ourselves to handle what life throws at us as our ability to find shampoo in a foreign country? 

This trip has helped me reassess what is essential and what is excess. For me, I like having a plan. I feel comfortable keeping a calendar, a check list and a contingency strategy. Without one, I can feel lost. But lately the need to have a plan has been weighing me down. While being a planner has served me well in some areas, I'm realizing you can't plan for everything, nor can you predict the outcome. And isn't that exciting to think about! Accepting what happens and trusting you can handle it is an important skill to embrace.

Not that everyone will embrace it with you. I've had a lot of people hit me with the "what ifs": what if I have to sell my place, what if I get sick, what if I find a man, what if I get a hang nail and it hurts? The truth is there are a lot of "what ifs" whether I stay or go. I can't answer them all, I can only prepare, keep focused on what's important and trust I can deal with it. If I'm wrong, I'll l post a declarative update to this post. You can then call me "pazza." 

Live life like Lou. When a job, relationship or hobby is no longer enjoyable, move on!As I was shopping, I asked Lou how long he had been in the luggage business. He seemed like a genuinely happy person. With pride, he told me 30 years. However, he had not always been so satisfied in his career. He told me he always knew it was time to move on when things stopped being enjoyable. I liked that answer. Shouldn't we all be so lucky to pack our bags and search for our own enjoyment? Shouldn't commitment to our happiness shape what we choose to "carry on" in our lives? In the meantime, I'm working hard to keep my luggage load light... 

Than you Lou and Michael Bruno Luggage for not only helping me find my perfect travel bag, but for sharing your own life motto/treasure.

What have you let go that makes your life lighter?