Luggage

We all have baggage, but when do we have luggage? Luggage implies travel, and Going Somewhere Else, something different from our normal lives. In this short, delicious little extended essay, author Susan Harlan takes a closer look at our luggage, why we have it, why we use it as we do.

Luggage has a long history, starting with the baggage trains of military groups. But luggage in our modern sense really began to evolve with the evolution of travel, especially travel as a leisure activity for the middle classes. And where once one’s luggage was many boxes and bags and crates, it has now become streamlined to the point where entire industries support “perfect packing” and maximal goods in minimal space. Brisk writing threads pensive musings about our luggage with the author’s use of her own on one of her many business trips. What we choose to take, which bags and what to pack, their shape and size and appearance and more, all have a lot to say about who we are. Who knew a few bags could have such deep psychological implications? Because our luggage is, after all, all that we bring with us to make our new place, home.