Everyday Carry

Guess some kind of a subtitle should be “Escape Austin.” The old South Austin? Never can quite escape, not totally.

Everyday Carry

My travel has shrunk, from worldwide to that thin line stretching from San Antonio to Austin, and back again. And again. And again. Down to the Texas Gulf Coast, mostly Corpus Christi with its beaches, fishing in its bays, but not far. What I have to carry? An everyday carry?

With the approach of summer, I have several airline hops to make, concluding with a trip back to El Paso, but that question is still up in the air, at this moment. I commute to Austin in an aging hybrid for my residency at the rock shop, and I work at some events in San Antonio — that’s about all, now.

For work, it is quite simple: laptop. Laptop, cables, cords, business cards, a few trinkets like tarot cards and a pendulum, but not much, anymore. Pretty stripped down.

I’ve tried, and used a time or two, a backpack with an integrated laptop sleeve, a custom–built saddlebag briefcase, and I keep defaulting to an old, weathered canvas messenger bag, in a style no longer even in production, from the ubiquitous Timbuk2. It just works. This one is tattered and starting to fray at places, but I’m loathe to turn it loose for repairs, as I still use it several times a month.

The old ways die hardest.

My notions and what prompted me to re-examine my Everyday Carry baggage was the one site I turn to for fair, luggage reporting.

Eloquent author, and covers serious road testing. While I can’t agree with all the luggage itself, I can concur that he covers the material in a satisfying manner. Like the works. Makes me think about what I use, daily. Or, more like weekly, these days.

Once a week, I hike off with a tablet stuffed into a small Vaya bag, wandering the mean streets of San Antonio in search of coffee shop ambiance that works well. Will probably work well enough for upcoming overnights. That arrangement does work best for coast trips, but I spend so little time working on a computer, and so much time — at the coast — out–of–doors, fishing, frolicking, dining, beaches, &c.

I keep looking and thinking about it, but if it isn’t broken, I’m not sure it needs to be fixed.

#Baggage