Lifetime warranty. I didn’t really pay attention to that at the time we purchased our Osprey luggage. I
Jacquie Whitt on jeep expedition in Bolivia
Mature folks need to have a backup plan. All the time. Having shoulder straps and wheels seemed like a good combination. I didn’t anticipate how many times I would need to use the new Sojourner, but it seemed perfect for our first trip to S. America in 2007. Then Adios Adventure Travel was born and the trips to South America continued. Trips to Ecuador and China showed up and the one destination that really put the Sojourner to the test? Bolivia. It’s like going to the outback, only without kangaroos. The whole country, including the cities, are gritty and rugged, like Dodge City. Even the children have a sense of resilience about them. It’s like they are adults, but just little. Children in South America have responsibilities that turn them in to creatures capable of running small businesses or negotiating selling transactions with foreigners. They can hold their ground!
I went on a jeep expedition into the high desert where my Sojourner bag was hoisted up and down off the roof rack at least once or twice a day. Then it was thrown into the baggage hold of buses on several occasions and even made it to Uyuni on my domestic flight, “where every seat was a window seat!”
On my last day in La Paz, while packing my stuff for the big flight home, I noticed the fabric on the backside of my Sojourner bag had worn through. Completely through. I grabbed my tiny roll of duct tape and slapped on a few pieces, then rearranged the contents so that my underwear was buried deep, “just in case.”
Now I’m a little nostalgic for the old bag. After all, it was the first bag I took on my first trip to Peru, which kind of changed my life. Seems like a pretty big deal. If I had known that I wouldn’t be seeing the bag again, I might have hugged it one more time before parting.
