TRAVEL GEAR FOR WORK

Y'all all know that I travel for work a little.  Or I did before Covid.  And you all also know that for the last 13 months I have worked exclusively from home.  Well, that all changed on Friday.  I went into the office for the first time in what seemed like forever.  My office was a literal time capsule with a 2019/2020 planner on my desk open to March 2020 and a stack of mail two feet high on my table.  My snack drawer was full of expired everything including coffee pods (who knew those went bad). But luckily my office coffee mug and travel cup had been thoroughly washed before being put away, so there was no yucky, moldy surprise waiting for me.

I was able to successfully attach my laptop to my giant monitor.  And for the first time in forever (Sing it, Anna...don't let Elsa get all the glory) I could have a spreadsheet, a PowerPoint, and a word document open at the same time and actually be able to see and work on them simultaneously.  Oh, how I have missed you, monitor.

But, I learned something.  Just because my tote bag was large and leather and magical, did not mean it was equipped to handle a laptop.  It just wasn't up to the task.  My laptop was not secure and quite frankly that is a problem since I will be taking it back and forth with me twice a week for the foreseeable future.  

At this point you may be asking yourself, "But, Liz...if you did all that work travel before did you not have a laptop bag?" Well, I am glad you asked my friends.  Because the answer is no.  No, I did not.  I always just took my iPad with me on work-related trips. I mean...I have two of them.  I have mine and I have my work iPad.  So, I simply made do with that.  But, that is not going to work anymore. Now that I will have work trips that involve me presenting at conferences, I will need to take the laptop with me.  And that means I needed a bag. But, not just any bag.  Oh no! you all know me far better than that.  you know this bag has to be nice.  No way are you going to catch me walking around with some plain black nylon bag.  Seriously, if you thought that...clearly you do not know my level of maintenance. No matter what the husband says (the man claims I am only medium maintenance) I know and so do all of my girlfriends (Hey girl, hey!) that I am high maintenance.  It is ok.  I own it freely.  I know my worth and have standards about how I will look when I leave the house.  So, of course, the laptop bag of my choosing would be nice.  What it is not is expensive! 

I am a firm believer in shopping online.  Do not get me wrong, I love shopping in person for clothes and shoes and accessories.  What I do not like doing is shopping at a Best Buy after working there for years and years and years.  And do not take that lack of interest in the big blue store as any commentary for how I was treated as an employee there.  I worked in three of them and only once was I treated like crap by management.  And he knows who he is...and if he doesn't then he is just as oblivious as when I was working for him.  The rest of the time my supervisors valued my work and backed me up against customers who were NOT ALWAYS RIGHT!!!! I have stories about working for Best Buy.  I was only threatened with death once by a man that was clearly not in his right mind and Dwayne took care of that really quickly (if you happen to find this blog...Hey!!! Thanks for tackling that man and choking him out.) Anyhow, after being there for years and years you just do not want to go back in if you have moved on.  And since I needed more than a bag I knew the only way I would get close to what I wanted was to order it all from the giant online entity that has taken over the shopping universe...Amazon. And before I continue I feel like I must state that in no way have I been paid to provide Amazon with free advertising.  And no, I will not make one penny if you buy something after reading about what I bought.  So feel free to NOT buy anything you do not need.  You will not hurt my feelings or cause me any hardship.

Now then, on to my new laptop bag and all the goodness that lives inside it. 

MY BAG AND ALL THE GOODIES INSIDE

Let's talk about the contents shall we. 

Laptop Bag - This lovely gem is vegan leather (which is a nice way of saying fake leather) and feels like suede.  I am fine with it not being real leather, in fact I prefer it because that meant it was affordable.  It has three compartments and the center one is padded to protect my laptop and keep it secure in my travels.  It will hold up to a 15.6" laptop.  The bag straps adjust.  It is really just lovely.  The gold hardware works for me as I never wear silver.  Just a really nice bag. Cost- $53.99

USB port adapter - Why laptop companies thought it was a good idea to do away with USB ports I will never know. Therefore, this adapter was a must for me to be able to save and connect my external memory.  Cost- $18.11

White Headset- Yep, zoom meetings still happen when you travel.  And presentations happen at the office.  I managed a year without one...that had to end.  And I wanted one that was white (I told you...high maintenance).  Cost- $27.99

Headset Case - This really should not have been necessary. But, not all headphones/headsets come with any kind of case, and quite frankly, I did not want mine loose in my bag.  Cost- $14.93

Memory Stick- Ok, this was not necessary.  I totally could have gone to my conference with my presentation saved to a penguin memory stick.  But, strangely, I wanted something a bit more professional.  Cost- $11.98

USB-c Adapter- Unlike the four-port one this is specifically for my keyboard and mouse combo.  Cost- $9.04

Wireless Keyboard & Mouse- And everyone can totally see the maintenance level skyrocket.  Yes, it is colorful.  Yes, the mouse is pink.  Yes, I am super girly.  And you know what?  It is my bag and my stuff, so if you think it is a waste then too darn bad.  Cost- $43.99

Deskpad- So this little gem actually goes under my laptop on my desk at home as well.  It protects my desk and acts like a mouse pad. I love that it rolls up so that it is portable. Cost- $9.99

AA Batteries - Anyone who has a wireless keyboard that requires batteries should always have some with them.  Cost- $9.00

Total cost to outfit me in the way I want:  $210.50.  Which isn't cheap for all of it.  Could I have done without a lot of it?  Yep.  Could I have done without most of it?  Yep.  Did I want to? Nope?  And can I justify the expense? Absolutely! Do I f'ing need to?  No.  

So there we go.  All set to resume travel even if it is only back and forth to my desk in my office.  The desk that I did not realize I missed as much as I did.  To the people that make my job amazing.  This bag is more than a laptop bag.  It is my ticket to normalcy.  What is yours?