Luggage Travails of a Frequent Flyer

Luxury and semi-luxury luggage are the new fashion frontier amongst the Indian jet set. Our writer though recommends extreme caution, unless you are the kind who can afford to fly in private jets

- Magandeep Singh

I always wished to travel the world as a child. As the young today would say, I manifested it. I have boarded so many flights and taxied out of so many airports, and hotel lobbies, even in all humility, I would not hesitate to label myself a seasoned traveller. I say seasoned and not wise because wisdom is an ongoing process; every trip, even today, leaves me smarter. And no matter how many trips' smart one becomes; one will occasionally give in to silly actions or decisions without realising their long-term consequences.

For example, I always lament the day I thought I needed a fancy suitcase to up my style quotient as a traveller. There I was, all upset about checking in a lame piece of luggage when clearly it was my style-related insecurities that I needed to be kept in check.

Destination reached, I decided to burden myself with the purchase of a limited edition black, all-aluminium Rimowa, check-in size- European checkin, where one packs a bag resembling a standard suitcase, and not the US checkin, where one carries a small apartment in the name of luggage. Rimowa, for the initiated, is a century-old German luxury luggage brand that is the current craze amongst Indian film stars and cricketers. Prices usually start upwards of Rs 1 lakh. The brand, acquired by LVMH in 2016, was launched in India earlier this year.