Travelling Bag

It is an immutable law of blogging that whomsoever is in possession of a blog will sooner or later publish a what-is-in-my-handbag post. I have managed to blog for just over two years without doing so, until today.

I have a bag wardrobe. By that I mean I have an assemblage of bags suitable for different occasions and not a wardrobe overflowing with a vast collection of them. Now, I am not a hapless fashion victim buying whatever is the latest over-priced it bag. I only have a collection of bags, and definitely not ‘it’ ones , because I rarely if ever send one to the used bag happy hunting ground in the sky, aka the local charity shop.

However there was a gap in my bag wardrobe as I didn’t have one that was ideal for travelling (and obviously general use as well) until I bought just such a thing in this year’s January sales. Post Christmas I wasn’t actually searching for a bag but on a mad impulse I bought the black number by Italian label ‘AB A Brand Apart’ that you see in the image above in Havana (a Dublin boutique). I don’t often break my no-buying-on-impulse rule but the bag was: substantially reduced; the only one left; and made from butter-soft leather. Plus it’s an over the body bag so when I travel I would have both hands free to do other things and although it’s not large it’s roomy enough to fit in most essentials. And I had some money my mother had given me for Christmas (thanks Mum) burning a hole in my pocket.

There are other things I like about said bag: it had no brand name or logo on the outside; inside there is a section that is a detachable clutch; and there is a Latin inscription on the interior. The inscription reads: ‘Omnia mea mecum porto’. In the distant mists of my teenage years Latin was a school subject but when I dived into the pool of my past I didn’t resurface with an exact translation. So I had to check the trusty (I hope!) interweb to discover it means: “All that’s mine I carry with me”.

That sounds like a good motto for an unmaterialistic life. But I suppose to live by it I would need to get rid of all but one of my bags – *ponders briefly* No, I can’t do it!

Edit: I thought I should mention the bag’s one downside, the leather is starting to look slightly distressed. I suspect because the leather is so soft: I have decided to use the bag from now on for best and travel only.