Saying Bye to an Old Friend
I said good bye to an old friend last week. My trusty blue Travel Gear carry-on was finally on it’s last legs wheels. It actually broke in during our honeymoon to the Bahamas. Unfortunately, that meant that for the remainder of the trip, I was forced to stoop down to lug my luggage. Charlene was gracious enough to pull it for me. It was easier for her to drag around since she’s shorter than me 
Once we got back, it took me a few months to find a replacement. It was replaced by a Chaps Varsity Elite 21-in. Expandable Upright (the Navy blue one with orange highlights).
But it was quite a sad story. We were in the Atlanta Airport waiting for our flight back home to the Bay Area.I had the handle fully extended because I was pulling it along behind me. But when we stopped and I tried to make it retract, it wouldn’t go down. I tried squeezing the release mechanism and pushing to no avail. (Apparently, the mechanism holding it up was stronger than the mechanism that let it down.) I was beginning to get a bit nervous because I needed that handle to retract before boarding. No flight attendant in her right mind would let me on with luggage that didn’t compact fully. So as things got desperate, I notice that there were screws in the handle portion. I decided to unscrew the handle from the top and see if that would make it retract. As luck would have it, it worked! I got the handle to retract, and it was clear that the mechanism was broken. Sad day 
That blue piece of luggage went everywhere with me since I was in college. (Full Disclosure: Truth be told, I basically commandeered it from my mom’s collection of luggage.) I took it to Bakersfield when I went home on the weekends. It went on a number of trips to Tucson. And it was my trusty friend during the crazy days of traveling for Accenture. It went with me to Chicago, Cincinnati, Raleigh/Durham, Kansas City (KS). And back before I entered the work force, it went with me on my epic trip to China. Take a look.
In any case, it was a sturdy and trusty piece of luggage for the years I had it. I just hope my new bag lasts as long as this one did. If it doesn’t, I might have to go back to Travel Gear (which is really quite inexpensive) or upgrade to the golden standard of travelware: Tumi. I’ll miss this friend dearly, but I’m really looking forward to putting miles on my new piece of luggage.