Wheelie suitcase

As mentioned in previous posts, OT and I have very large wheelie suitcases with us on this trip. To be quite accurate, OT's is an orange wheelie suitcase, mine a gray wheelie duffle bag, with back straps.

Yes, if I were packing again for this trip, I might bring slightly less with me.* No, I don't regret the size, capacity and range of my bag – it contains a wide range of minor comforts and conveniences, a number of flexible outfits that do not approach, in any regard, to the cargo pants, ill-fitting tank-top and bum-bag (with optional poncho) that many of my lighter packing fellow tourists are forced to exhibit themselves in.

Trundling wheelie suitcase behind me along the docks of Split today, I wondered to OT whether I am wheelie suitcase's servant, or he is mine?

In my favour, he carries all my items for me from place to place, and always travels a respectful step or two behind me in public. I am also responsible for his upkeep (gaffer tape), and good order (regular re-foldings).

In his favour, I am the beast of burden that carries him up stairs (with a Pooh-bear like 'thump, thump, thump'). He is also willful, in a way that a truly servile being might be too anxious to perpetrate – his favorite trick is the turtle-roll, usually executed as we drop over a curb, in which he “loses” his balance and flips over, exposing his webbed underside. I have been interpreting this as defiance, but it has just occurred to me that perhaps he wants a tummy pat?

OT's suitcase, a slimmer, broader and altogether more stable creature, does not have this little routine up its sleeve. It does however, have a well-honed ability to temporarily digest items, only regurgitating them after a thorough shakedown. It would be unfair to blame the creature overly if it was a little wobbly on its wheels – the one item that seems to have been a permanent sacrifice is half our emergency supplies – a fifth of Johnnie Walker Black Label. (Don't judge us, Singapore Airport has a restricted choice of strong drink in small bottles. What was I supposed to do, buy Midori?) 

 

* My suitcase was overweight at Wellington Airport. I transferred two guide books to my carry on and gave my husband one pair of brown and fawn striped socks to take home. That fixed it.