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It has been so long since I’ve gone anywhere that my travel accoutrements are as neglected as my hairstyle. The suitcases are covered in dust and where on earth are those travel plugs?
The FOT has been complicated by the hobbies taken up during Covid Lockdown. Over the last two years, I have finally learnt to play the guitar well enough to not embarrass myself in public. The downside is, I love it and I’m not prepared to give it up for months at a time.
Luckily the other major bonus of Covid Lockdown has been online shopping. Amazon’s Alexa is my dear, dear friend and she, of course, had a solution. It’s called a travel guitar. It’s only 76 centimetres (30 inches) long and 15 centimetres wide. It plugs into a tiny Fender amp, or it can be used with headphones.
I can already see myself on the train, hurtling through the Rocky Mountains, singing that John Denver classic. I guess my neighbours on Amtrak’s California Zephyr from Sacramento to Chicago will decide if I really am good enough to play in public! The only problem with the travel guitar is that it does look a bit like a gun when it’s in the case. Hopefully you will not be reading about how I got arrested before I left Australia.
So I have the guitar sorted. But now I need a bag that fits the guitar. More hours spent with my friend Alexa, looking for a wheeled duffel bag that turns into a backpack for easy public transport use, fits the guitar, but isn’t too big for my room on the train. So many requirements. Thank you High Sierra, made by Samsonite and also my sons who kindly ordered this for my birthday.
Last but not least: hand luggage. If you had met me in real life you would know I am a little bit uncoordinated – or unco – as we say in Australia. So I can’t have two bags with wheels or anything too unwieldy. I need my laptop with me on the plane for work. So I had a chat with Alexa about nice leather laptop bags that convert into a backpack. This would be big enough to hold everything but easy to carry on my back when I’m wheeling my other bag. Step in BFFT (Best Friend From Thirroul). She has great taste – in fact she once chose a house for me and I moved into it sight unseen. She has ordered this item and I am confident that it will be much nicer than anything I could have found myself. So excited.
I will give you a review of all my travel choices once I’m on the road. It won’t be long now…
