Dear J-
I always seem to think that there’s a thousand days before the next trip but it’s already upon me — I leave Sunday for Massachusetts and a whole week in the snow. The real question is what I need t brnig back from work in order to support what I’m going to be there for. So far I have a laptop request in process, and I need to print out an itinerary and hotel reservation so that I can have something to reference when all the batteries I’m carrying around have gone dead. There’s a lot of things I should have gotten but didn’t — I’m thinking wide-angle lens, smaller camera, phone, different bag — but it’s too late to fret about that now. Work with what you’ve got, not what you thought you needed.
It’s funny that I keep thinking about a better bag, as the one I’ve got has been doing fine for a year or so — it’s a tough beast, and certainly looks workmanlike. The best part is the tool compartment on the front, which provides lots of handy little pockets to stash everything without jumbling things together. In the dark it’s good to know exactly where everything is and stays. The worst part is that as it’s not a bike-specific design, when it’s hanging off the bike just about everything inside is inaccessible except for my keys, which makes it pretty useless. The answer would be pretty simple — get a Klickfix bar and attach it to the back, and get a rain cover too — except that I’m too lazy or busy to do that surgery. And it’s cheaper to keep looking at other bags and think that they’ll be perfect next too.
With any luck the drive in from Providence shouldn’t be too bad, though that’s one aspect of East Coast life I never got to try — I need to remember how compact distances are there. When I went to Alabama last year it was an hour from the airport to the hotel; that same time would take me through most of Connecticut or into Boston. I’m looking forward to the trip not because it’s a chance at a change but also for going back to New England and all it implies, gruff folks and wintry stares. Life in the air isn’t perfect and I’m going to miss the crazy that happens every night but it should be a nice change from the same old San Diego, which I’m sure I’ll miss within a few minutes of climbing into the air.
Mike
Tags: distance, flight, jitters, New England, travel
