It's a shame.
"What's a shame?"
I've come to sense the limitations of my Belstaff Colonial Canvas shoulder bag.
"Buh-wha...?"
I've been on the road an awful lot lately, and it's just not cutting it.
"I thought that bag did everything but wash your dishes and stop bullets."
Don't get me wrong, it's a great bag. It's just not convenient for the serious traveler.
"What happened?"
First of all, it's just not big enough. I'm schlepping around a laptop, files, notebooks, my pencil case. . .
"You carry around a pencil case?"
Dude. You need a pencil case. I keep my spare pens, refills, my automatic pencil, a glue stick, all kinds of useful stuff in it.
"You're scaring me."
OK, where was I. Besides the pencil case, I carry an iPod Touch, the wires and charger for it, a phone, and that doesn't start to cover the other bits of crap I carry around, like hand sanitizer, whiteboard pens, a harmonica, a small stack of origami paper. . .
"Origami paper."
You need that for making presents for flight attendants.
"I'm not going to ask."
I've got my worry stone, a pewter acorn from the Morton Arboretum...
"OK, I have to ask. Why an acorn?"
You carry an acorn to bring luck and ensure a long life.
"Really."
I'm not taking any chances. Oh, and then there's my Midori Traveler's Notebook for tickets, receipts, itineraries, business cards and whatnot. And that doesn't include any books I'm reading.
"That's a lot of crap, Bob."
Seriously! If you're not getting on and off planes for a living, the Belstaff bag is swell. But I need something bigger.
"So just get a backpack or carry one of those big laptop bags."
Perhaps you haven't been paying attention. I need a bag for my stuff, not a ballistic-fabric monster.
"Except now you've got more stuff."
What can I say.
"So what man purse. . .I'm sorry, man bag are you looking at these days?"
Funny you should ask. Check out the Barbour Retriever Bag.
"Oh my."
It's waxed cotton so it's light, water-resistant and durable. It's got that nice Barbour tartan fabric liner. It's one big pouch with two small external pockets. And check out the dimensions: 16.5 x 16 x 6.5 inches. That's a good three to four inches longer, wider and deeper than my Belstaff bag. And it's not man-baggy-looking, if you know what I mean.
"Have you read any reviews?"
Come on.
"How much?"
Around $120, maybe less if I get lucky on eBay.
"That's a lot less expensive than the Belstaff."
And get this - there's a Barbour repair center out east in case something unfortunate happens to it. I don't have to screw around negotiating with someone in the showroom to get it fixed.
"Very nice."
I agree.
"Got another picture?"
Sure:
3 comments:
Hey, I'd like that bad. cool & such a deep conversation.
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Nice upgrade.
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