“MY BAG IS PACKED, I’M READY TO GO . . . “

Travelling time is coming up. And this year, I have a new suitcase! I travel so much that I buy my luggage for visibility, not durability.

This started about seven years ago, when my hard-working black suitcase wore out. I swore I would never get another one like it.

I looked at a lot of websites until I found a suitcase I could spot across the room without my glasses on. This hard-sided suitcase was supposed to look like the hide of a white and tan cow (perhaps), and it provoked a lot of comment. When I would tell a driver, “You can’t miss it,” I would actually mean that. I never saw another suitcase like it, though logically I knew mine had not been the only one manufactured, until one very strange night in Shreveport when four rolled out on the baggage carousel. Four. Identical. Suitcases. In this freaky pattern. Three were empty. The fourth one was mine. I have never understood or been able to imagine the story behind that.

My next bag, the one just deceased, was aqua and brown and had tan and black circles on it. It was a good size and I could spot it (though not from the next planet, as I had the first one). Unfortunately, I took it out of the country a few times, and it was cloth. It began to show wear and tear, and a zipper got cranky, and one of the plastic feet. Then it frayed. Goodbye, circle bag!

My new one is imitation crocodile. At least, I am pretty sure that crocodiles don’t come in burgundy. I think it is beautiful, though a bit small. (Maybe I’ll see if I can get a larger model, too.) Crocodile bag is about as conspicuous as the circle bag, but it seems to inspire more respect. It also attracts more admiration than the cow bag. I’m all for that!

If there’s ever a company that makes a diagonally striped suitcase in green and blue . . . could you have them give me a call? I’ll be glad to test it for them.

Charlaine Harris

Comments

[Karen in Ohio]

That's one of my tests for a good suitcase, too. Nothing worse than trying to find a black bag that looks like every other of the billions of chic black suitcases riding around the baggage claim carousel.

TJ Maxx has so many suitcases, many of which would pass your test. I've seen hot pink polka dot bags there, for heaven's sake.

[Charlaine Harris]

I've seen some that were so loud I would almost be embarrassed to roll them out of the airport, Karen! But I would rather buy one on Ebay or Overstock that I can spot in a minute rather than a very good black one, no matter how many ribbons you tie around them or bright straps you cinch around them.

[Marcia Talley]

I have experimented so much with bags that my basement looks like a branch of The Luggage Factory. I mine it for yard sale merchandise. I love wheelie bags, but the airlines can destroy one in a single trip. No fun rushing thru the airport with a bag that behaves like a rusted shopping cart at Safeway. :-(

[ElaineViets]

I have a black magic bag that can hold almost everything. It wears a bunch of ribbons I got off a champagne bottle. So far it's holding up, but my next bag search, I'm using your technique. I'm past the age when I embarrass easily.

[Charlaine Harris]

That's true, and once one "foot" breaks, that's it. It can't sit up straight (or beg, for that matter). My hard-sided one was really marvelous, but it opened in the middle, which was hard to find room for in a hotel. I still miss it.

[Charlaine Harris]

Elaine, have fun the next time you shop for a suitcase. It's really a little happy day for me when I conclude it's that time again. Every travel companion is an adventure! I tried putting electrical tape on one black bag I had, but it wouldn't adhere to the fabric.

[Mary Kay Kare]

I usually have good luck buying purple luggage. There is often another purple bag on my flight, but there are so many shades of purple... Yellow has good visibility too, but it shows dirt too easily. We also have Tutto luggage. It's very distinctive looking & easy to spot even in black. Google it for pics. It looks as if it might be fragile, but our first set lasted more than 10 years of heavy travel. And it closes nearly flat for easy storage!
Mary Kay.

[ElaineViets]

Do these turquoise and green suitcases work for you, Charlaine?

http://search.aol.com/aol/imageDetails?s_it=imageDetails&q=colorful+suitcases&v_t=keyword_rollover&b=image%3Fq%3Dcolorful%2520suitcases%26s_it%3Dkeyword_rollover%26ie%3DUTF-8%26VR%3D3430%26oreq%3Ddbda08d1e5214025a9a901d4d1a927ed&img=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.sheknows.com%2Farticles%2F2012%2F06%2Fcolorful-luggage-were-loving-double-dutch.jpg&host=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sheknows.com%2Fbeauty-and-style%2Farticles%2F962550%2Fcolorful-luggage-were-loving&width=110&height=85&thumbUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ft1.gstatic.com%2Fimages%3Fq%3Dtbn%3AANd9GcSR6F7Y7gDVRxw832HWJSBOEwZtM-nh7gGK8VaawGvIWAPnJE7OkYohcf8&imgWidth=280&imgHeight=216&imgSize=56885&imgTitle=colorful+suitcases

[Charlaine Harris]

Mary Kay, thanks for the good recommendation. I'll check it out.

Elaine, the answer to a dream!

Charlaine

[Gaylin]

This is why I shop at Heys - lots of really good luggage with great colours and prints.

[Kathy Lynn Emerson]

I'm in the purple (and reddish-purple) suitcase club, too, plus vari-colored yarn on the handles. My roller bag from L.L.Bean is holding up like a champ, although it does now have a collection of dirty steaks on the outside. Looking forward to seeing you at Malice, Charlaine. And the rest of the Femmes, too.

Kathy/Kaitlyn

[Charlaine Harris]

You bet, Kathy. L.L. Bean has a reputation for good value, and I'm glad to hear that's well deserved.

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

Oh, I wish I could have seen the cow bag! so cool.

I am in love with my suitcase. I really am. I think it's like a Hermoine Grainger thing--because it fits perfectly in the overhead, abut you cannot believe how much stuff will go into it. It's wait--like Mary Poppins, right? ! I'm at the airport now, sigh, delayed--but in my dear suitcase are three leather jackets, five dresses and four pair of shoes, a flat iron, two cosmetic bags and some slippers. In one suitcase!

But--it's black. xoxoo

[Karen in Ohio]

It doesn't matter as much for carry-on bags if they're black, I think. It's those bags that come off the plane with 500 other bags that need to be visible from space.

I once bought a floral bag, thinking it was really different. Nope. There must be billions of those suckers. I usually also put a web strap around it, though, because on my first trip to Europe my bag arrived at Logan with the zipper ripped open, and my very expensive walking shoes riding around on their own.

[Toni LP Kelner]

This is well timed. I need a new suitcase because mine is about to give up the ghost.

And Charlaine, you may have thought that bag looked like cow, but it looked like bacon to me. And the bag lives on, fictionally--Sid the skeleton rides in it in two of my books.

[Cathy M]

If you really want to see a one of a kind, unusual, never duplicated and sure to stand out at the baggage claim suitcase, Google Jenny Crusie's pig suitcase that appeared on Argh Ink in June, 2009. I don't know if the suitcase is still rolling along, but it was a hoot.

I use one of the generic black roller bags, now in need of new wheels.

[Charlaine Harris]

Toni, I recognized my suitcase when I saw it in your book! I was honored.

I'll check it out, Cathy M.

Karen, at least both shoes were on the carousel, whooping it up together!

[Dana Cameron]

Picking a suitcase is such an exciting thing, and fraught with calculations. We debate over soft vs hard-sided, how it's hinged, and pondering how the handle retracts. Best of luck!

[Sally Schmidt]

I remember years ago we all had identical Samsonite or American Tourister luggage sets. Who needs that makeup suitcase now?? Even though my current luggage doesn't look too unique, I have attached many tags and things to it so that I can spot it right away. Nothing worse than having to run someone down (so to speak) when they have gotten your bag by mistake.

[Charlaine Harris]

Well, a suitcase can make a trip easier or harder, so it's natural we travelers weigh a lot of things when making a choice, Dana.

Oh, Sally, we all had makeup kits to carry with us, didn't we? I'd have a time running someone down (unless I was behind the wheel!) but I can sure yell.