More Bumpf About Bags

This seems as good a time as any to chat a bit more about bags.  Who can survive without them?  Nobody nowhere.  But for the Road Warrioress, toting your life and livelihood around the planet, your luggage is just about your - and your "stuff's" - most crucial survival tool.

Your luggage has to fit your needs.  And a primary need for a Road Warrioress is durability.  Well, my Western Pack brand wheeled computer bag did not pass my most modest test.

Another bag passes with flying colors!  I have a Hartmann bag that I love and have been using extensively for months.  Ironically, it's my only bag without wheels.  Still, it has proven amazingly useful.

I have no idea how old this Hartmann bag is - decades, probably.  I'm sure I've had it at least a decade now myself.  A friend, cleaning out the attic when they moved, gave it to me as they had new sets of luggage and no longer wanted their old Hartmann bag.  You'd never know by looking at it that it must have lasted at least a couple of decades by now!

It's plain-old Hartmann classic tan ballistic nylon with tan belting leather handles and trim.  No clue to its age there.  This stuff seemingly lasts longer than the Ice Age.

What I love about it is its organization.  There are three zippered compartments, and you can open each compartment flat, one at a time, to pack and unpack.  One compartment I reserve for things I need, but do not use daily.  Here goes a dress with matching jacket, a pantsuit with a more formally styled blazer, slips, hose, dress shoes.  The "good" clothes, business clothes, dinner dress sort of attire all fit in here.  I only open this section when needed.

The middle section holds my daily wear, which for me is casual slacks and shirts.  Most of the time, I hardly need anything very "fancy," just plain and durable cotton knits.  My travel wardrobe happens to be exceptionally casual, for the most part.  Still, this compartmentalization would work well for anyone.

Nightie, light cotton robe or duster, and undies go in the third compartment.  As I use up clothing during the week, these go into the main compartment, and this section becomes my laundry bag.

On one side of the bag is a gusseted flap pocket with latch.  Here go a shawl and sarong, clear plastic TSA-required toiletries bag with its little bottles of everything. 

On the other side is a large open slash-pocket which can hold a magazine or paperback book (my "airplane reading), a legal pad or two, and a pair of flip-flops or ballerina slippers wrapped in a plastic shopping bag.  Accumulated "mish-mash" seems to get stuffed in there while traveling, too.  Then there's a small zippered pocket which holds a travel sewing kit, travel first aid kit, manicure set, and such like.

It easily holds a week's worth of clothing and whatsits.  It's easy to keep things neat and organized.  It's easy to pull together an outfit to dress quickly and pack up in a rush.

Despite the lack of wheels, it's easy to carry - and I have a miserable wreck of a back.  I do admit to not carrying it any great distance, however!  But it certainly has been hauled up and down numerous staircases - where wheeled bags dare not go.

With this, a handbag and "office on wheels" - the wheeled computer bag, now deceased - I can keep going for months at a time.  And I have been doing exactly that!

Hartmann has a long-standing reputation for durability.  I can attest to that!  My Hartmann bag is about the best luggage I've ever had in my life.  Even though it was a used bag when it came to me.  Even though it lacks wheels, which I consider among the most essential features of any travel bag.  It's extraordinarily useful and far more convenient than I ever imagined it could be.

May your road rise to meet you - and may your luggage live long!
Ann

Safety Is Always a Major Concern for Road Warrioresses

While a grad student, a few classmates and I went to Houston for a professional conference.  I left my small group - and roommate for that trip - downstairs to run back to my room for something.  One man got in the elevator with me, but it was not a concern until we got off the elevator and he started following me down the hall.  I got my room key in hand quickly, unlocked the door and grabbed the safety latch as I closed the door.  Just in the knick of time!  He stuck his hand in the doorway as I tried to close it.  Fortunately, I got the latch over the edge of the knobby-thingy just enough to prevent him from opening the door.  I crashed my weight against the door and slammed it on his hand.  With a few yelps, he took off!

Don't worry about the guy's hand in such a situation!  Quick thinking and quick movement saved me.

But it made me safety conscious even before beginning a job which required near-constant travel.  I always slip the safety latch (better) or safety chain as I enter my hotel room door.

So imagine my distress when - for the first time in years of travel in numerous countries - I discovered the safety latch on the door of my hotel room was broken.  I latched it, and only later noticed the screw was loose and did not latch securely.  I checked out.

Your safety and security has to be your constant concern on the road.  Your first line of defense is to PAY ATTENTION!  Victimizers look for the person who is distracted, who fails to look around, pay attention not only to what they are doing, but to what is going on around them.

Before you explore a market, secure your shoulder bag - put it diagonally across your shoulder and toward your front.  Zip it up.  Otherwise, a pickpocket can dig in an open bag or slip it off your shoulder and run away with it.

Who is paying attention to you or your "stuff" instead of the sights?  That should put you on alert.  Anyone following you?  Have your room key ready to insert & slip inside quickly, fasten the safety latch.

There are lots more safety tips - and do share yours here!  But your first line of defense is your own powers of observation.  Develop the fine art of observing carefully and constantly.

May your road rise up to meet you!

Ann