"Fifty cents."
Fifty cents. Pick-n'-Pay is now at the top of my list of places to shop. Less than a dollar for this brown, vintage, medium-sized American Tourister. Since the minute I laid my eyes on it, I had a feeling that it would soon become my new friend.
My goal is to fit all of my long-term living necessities into this suitcase, and to get rid of everything else.
There are so many things that I own, so much junk that many times I have tried in vain to get rid of.
I don't need eight sweatshirts, or twelve t-shirts that I never get around to wearing but I keep them just because they hold some memorial value. I'm tired of waiting for those long-lost socks to show up so that I can make pairs.
Now is the perfect time. I'm spreading my new wings and in order to fly, I will need a light load. The main reason that I want to get rid of most of my stuff, though, is that it ties me down. It's not only difficult to try getting around in a busy airport with too many bags -- or hopping from taxi to bus and back with a huge load -- but it's also uncomfortable to go away for college and leave stuff behind. When I left stuff behind before, in a strange way I felt like it was another thing obligating me to come back home. If it's all gone, I won't have to worry about what will happen to it, and neither will the people who lived with it.
I want to travel independently -- without paying airport workers to cart around my suitcases, and without worrying about whether or not I forgot something in the bus stop bathroom.
This suitcase seems like it will move around easily, although I'm a little worried about fitting everything in there, and about letting go of the things that hold value to me. But that will be my challenge, and as of now I promise myself that by the time I get on the plane to fly back to college, I will not own more than what I can fit in this suitcase, a small carry-on, my guitar, and my class portfolio.
