I refuse to bid farewell to a trusted partner. We’ve travelled the world together for 10 years.
I’m talking about my purple Rimowa Salsa Air suitcase. Some Tank’s Travels readers might remember when I purchased the suitcase at Mego on Granville Street in Vancouver (now shuttered) in 2013 for a scuba diving trip to Thailand. It cost a lot of money at the time.
I want to cry when I look at the state of my dear friend following my most recent trip in late March 2023. Cracked at the wheel.
See the purple duct tape? A suggestion from the Vancouver Rimowa-store guys after finding the crack during a lock fix last year. “You can buy it from Amazon,” they said. They told me the crack was severe and no fix was possible due to its location next to the wheel. Duct tape, they said, might lengthen the suitcase’s life. It lasted another two trips to Mexico – packed full of scuba gear (and flavoured tequila on the trips home!)
I live in a 510-square-foot Vancouver condo. No room to store a broken suitcase with sentimental value and its replacement. The building’s annual spring cleaning event happens in a few days and the thought of dumping my buddy in a pile of trash hurt my heart.
Then came the idea of the century. Why not store the dive gear I store under my bed in the suitcase? Genius move.
As for the replacement, $1,200 to $1,400 for the Rimowa Essential or Lite. Two grand and up for aluminum. OMG.
I’ll keep you posted on the hunt for the perfect, affordable-ish replacement. Folks on the Rimowa Facebook page are recommending Pelican!
Anyone need a roll of purple duct tape?
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