Luggage or Baggage?

I love to travel. Part of the wonderfulness of traveling is living out of a suitcase. Now I don't enjoy the actual packing part because it stresses me out. I am what I call a "mood dresser" so I typically can't even pick out an outfit the night before. This makes the concept of picking out outfits for an extended period of time that use a limited number of pieces incredibly daunting for me. However, once I actually get the packing done, I love living out of a suitcase. It makes me feel like I'm on an adventure even if I'm just going to my parents' for the weekend. Plus I end up saving so much time in the morning since I don't have to figure out what to wear. Vintage luggage is great. I think the idea of packing in trunks and hatboxes is simply charming and if it was at all practical I would go out and invest in a great steamer trunk. In reality this is a horrible idea. Can you imagine trying to check a trunk on a plane? Yikes. Anyway, all of that is why I originally took this photo at Fort Edmonton last fall. Yesterday I was scrolling through pictures trying to decide what to post and came across this one and considered it in a whole new context. I spent Tuesday night hanging out with my friend Steph and we were talking about the excitement of new beginnings. One of the great things about moving somewhere that people don't know you is the ability to hang out with people who don't see you through the lens of your personal or relational baggage. They don't look at you and see the thirteen year old who was having a rough go of it, or the sixteen year old who bounced from guy to guy, or the person that once said that really mean thing to them because you were hurt and angry. Starting over with a fresh slate can be phenomenal. This isn't to say that I don't love having friends who have known me for a long time. Sometimes it's great to have people around you just get you, who have seen it all and aren't weirded out by your little quirks. I think it takes a special type of relationship to last for a really long time though. I don't know exactly what quality it is, but it has to do with the ability to not hang on to baggage or view people through past difficulties. Lasting relationships are ones where the past isn't forgotten, but you are allowed to grow and change. I'm definitely not perfect at this; I don't think anyone is. But that's the difference between luggage, the stuff you need to carry with you, and baggage, the stuff that needs to be let go. Sometimes telling the difference is hard. Sometimes the only way to get away from baggage is to literally get away.