There are all kinds of travelers in the world. Million mile business folks, jet setting millionaires, shoestring backpackers, and casual vacationers. One thing any well-seasoned traveler will heartily agree on is this:
Quality travel gear is ESSENTIAL.
It’s hard to believe that just 10 years ago, I had never owned a travel pack. It wasn’t that I had never wanted to. I remember looking into it in my early 20s, and the sticker shock alone stopped me in my tracks. “What?? $200-300 just for a bag?!?”
The thought of spending more money than I had ever spent on a single article of clothing or accessory seemed utterly foolish! I kept dreaming about the idea for years, however. Just imagining the idea of having a smartly compartmentalized, ergonomic bag seemed like the next step to upping my travel game. It was like wanting to go camping but being unwilling to buy a tent.
When I met my wife, one of the first things we bonded on was our shared love of travel, though I had only managed to go on two trips out of the country at that point. We quickly began daydreaming about all the places we would travel to together, and she eagerly insisted that it was time for me to take the plunge and invest in my very own travel pack!
After some overwhelming online research, I was ready to go talk to the experts. We walked into Bivouac, an outdoor supplies store in downtown Ann Arbor, and were met by super-fit, sun-kissed, flannel-bedecked store clerks. My learning curve was steep that day.
I didn’t know that backpacks come in sizes, specifically designed to fit your torso and distribute your load evenly. There are no less than 80 straps covering the thing, with an alarming amount of ways you can make slight adjustments to the fit, or expand the pack for greater contents.
I felt giddy, as the clerk explained what all the separate compartments could be used for. Sleeping rolls strapped to the bottom, hiking poles secured on the outside, easy access pockets on the top flap- I could finally start to see myself as a backpacker!
I settled on the Gregory Jade. She was a beauty! A full 60 Liters in an elegantly subtle green tone, which I could imagine leaned up against the trunk of a tree while I took a break from hiking to enjoy lunch on a cliff, overlooking a stunning rocky valley that I had just ascended.
The first time she traveled internationally, my pack, Jade, got checked. I was a nervous wreck- I had never thought about her and her 200 straps going down a conveyor belt! What if she got stuck, or damaged?
Thankfully, Jade arrived in Asia perfectly unharmed. And my next investment was a bag to put her in for future conveyor adventures.
Jade and I have been all over the world. She’s got battle scars, and black rubber scrub marks from exploring the insides of countless new airports. We’ve got our check-in routine down to a science now. As I reach the check in counter, I remove her from my back, loosen her waist straps and circle them around backwards to hug the pack and clip together snugly, then do the same with the chest strap. I hoist her up with the sturdy handle at the nape of her neck, and slide her into the cheap laundry bag that balls up and fits in the side shoe pocket after the hard part is over. the drawstring closes around her handle, and I tie them together while the attendant straps her bar code sticker onto the only visible portion of my pack.
A few years ago I noticed my spine zipper starting to fail. The glue that seamlessly adhered the zipper to the fabric began to release. Soon after, the zipper became unusable, and I abandoned the use of that compartment. I didn’t realize just how much I missed this specific aspect of Jade. Super accessible, shallow, yet perfect for sliding in my journal, key documents, and urgent snack options. Without the spine space, I lost a vital part of my organizational technique.
I tried purchasing other organizing pouches to keep in the main compartment, but nothing replaced the functionality I had lost. Finally, I declared defeat, and decided that a decade of travel may have been all Jade was up for. It was a good 10 years.
To my surprise, when I went into my local REI, the sales guy there, while happy to size me up again for a new pack, offered some unexpected advice.
“Try reaching out to the manufacturer,” he said, though my travel-worn pack was clearly well beyond any normal warranty period. I looked back at him like he was dumb.
“It’s 10 years old…” I tried to remind him gently.
“I know,” he ever so politely acknowledged, “but you’d be surprised. Gregory and Oprey are both really good brands, and they really stand behind their products.”
Really? I thought. He continued, “Yeah, I’ve know several folks who have had their packs fixed at no cost, or even replaced and upgraded to the newer version for free!”
Wow! Seriously? Color me impressed. I continued on with my fitting, wearing the 30 pounds of weight around the store while I tried on some new hiking shoes. Considering that I still have a few months before I really need my pack to work, I figured it was worth a try.
So, I emailed Gregory and waited for a reply. To my surprise, the process was super simple! They sent me a repair ticket, which I printed out to mail in with Jade, and my wife rummaged through the recycling to find a box usable for shipping her off.
I was still nervous. We paid $14 to ship my pack, and what if that was a waste of money? They could get it and refuse to repair it due to normal wear and tear. Or worse… they might see that I had previously attempted to fix it myself – first with some other fabric glue, which lasted a month, then by sewing it back to itself (rendering it no longer water resistant).
Gregory emailed me to let me know that they recieved my pack, and…
IT WAS FIXED! Ironically, their solution was also to simply sew the pack back together. She make look a bit more like Frankenstein at this point, but…
She’s ALIVE… JADE IS ALIVE!!!
I’m excited to see how many more years my trusty travel buddy has left in her. Next up is Peru and Ecuador in April! No matter how many more miles we travel, or how many more countries we explore for the first time as a team, I’ll always be grateful for our experiences together.
And when the time finally does come for Jade to retire, you can bet your bottom dollar I’m going with another Gregory.
Travel Grrrls 