How to lose your luggage fast

(Photo by Jimmy Choo)

Hey, hey -what have we got here? As I was checking out the JC site for news on their spring collection, I came across this addtion to their ever growing selection of accessories - the "Terence" trolley. Now, I love me some spots and I certainly think this little bag is a real eye-catcher.

Immediately, I started daydreaming about going on my spring weekend trip. I could see myself - wearing a light trench, a lovely silk scarf, comfy ballerinas and some fab sunglasses, all while wheeling this little beauty casually behind me. Now, doesn't that sound like the epitome of style? Then reality set in, caused by a glance at the price tag: 3395 euros. Yes, you read that right, threethousandthreehundredandninetyfive euros! That would be the price of a small, used car!

And then another thought hit me - a fact I learnt way back when I started my working career in the travel business - the risk of losing your luggage increases significantly with valuable suitcases. The higher the value, the higher the risk of it mysterioulsy "disappearing" along the way. One brand which the rumours would have it was notoriously known for this, was a certain LV.

(Random photo from the net)

Now, say if you're Paris Hilton, or some other Hollywood A-lister or business tycoon, and frequently travel by private plane, you might not have to worry so much about the airline losing your prized possessions. (And also, in Ms Hilton's case, I'm not completely certain she would even notice if one of her bags should happen to be missing. But I'm digressing). Fact of the matter, I'm neither rich nor a celeb. And as such, I have to travel the way most of us "commons" do, being subject to strict security measures forcing me to check in and let go for a while of even the smallest cabin size trolley if the content includes ordinary sized necessities like perfumes, lotions and potions. Which in my case, it always does.

So, while daydreaming is free, the JC trolley is not. And even if I had been able to afford it, the risk of losing it and the hassle of missing luggage make my old and battered Samsonite seem like the sensible option. In comparison, it's not stylish at all. But then again, it's not especially attractive to anyone else. The look of it clearly advertises "this item's owner cannot afford a new suitcase and therefore the content of this crappy bag can't possibly be of much value either!" Apart from a detour on the way to New York, caused by the confusion in the aftermath of the Icelandic volcano eruption last spring, in the ten years I've had it, it's arrived promptly on the luggage conveyor belt after every trip. As long as it continues to do that, I think I'll stick with it. Till the wheels fall off.

Even if the JC bag is so much prettier.......*sigh*.