May 17, 2016 3 min read

You might have noticed from reading this column that I travel a lot. Exploring is one of my favorite hobbies, and I’ve logged a new personal best in mileage this year. Yes, I still work for a living and, yes, I now plan to stay in the country for a while. After all, I need to replenish my travel fund. Plus, I needed to get my broken suitcase repaired.

My large suitcase is affectionately nicknamed “Bagzilla” and is large enough to hold scuba-diving equipment. I bought it as part of a set of three, and the price was right. It’s one of those hard-sided plastic “spinner” bags that are genius. Never again will I drag, carry or slog luggage through an airport – I just roll it along with minimal effort.

Upon returning from my last trip, I saw Bagzilla roll down the baggage carousel only to realize in horror its handle was missing. This wasn’t the retractable handle you use to pull the bag but rather the one on top you grab to pick it up and throw it in your car. I’ve never had a bag damaged badly enough to report it to the airline, so I wondered what would happen. They filled out a report and gave me paperwork to fill out with instructions to take it to a luggage repair shop. If deemed unrepairable, the airline would reimburse the cost of the bag if I had the original receipt.

My first thought was just to send them the bill and buy a new bag. My second thought was whether luggage repair shops still exist. In this age of disposable everything where mobile phones are meant to be upgraded every few months, why would I bother to pay to fix a cheap plastic suitcase? Better yet, who would bother to fix it? After all, a young computer tech once told me I should just throw away my laptop computer instead of repairing it because, “They’re not built to last.”

I found my receipt for the suitcase and filled out the paperwork. Then, I set about trying to find a luggage repair shop to verify my bag probably wouldn’t be worth fixing. After all, we’re not talking about Louis Vuitton luggage here. To my shock, I found Specialty Luggage in downtown Pittsburgh and called them. I took some photos of my broken bag handle, and we discovered it was held in place by anchors attached with screws. What a simple fix: Just screw on a new handle, stupid! I couldn’t believe how quickly I jumped on the “everything is disposable” bandwagon. Thanks to Specialty Luggage for the $25 repair, a reality check and for fixing things that don’t need to be thrown in the landfill after all. Now … where shall I travel to next?

Kristin Emery can be reached at kristinemery1@yahoo.com.