The Best of the Technobedouin: Suitcases

What is the best luggage solution? Some time ago I bought a fancy Samsonite and paid through the nose for it, only for the suitcase to be ruined by airline luggage handlers within a year. Luckily, it got written off by my insurance company, but it took loads of infuriating form-filling and hunting for receipts and proofs, in other words, just the kind of waste of time you want to minimise in life.

Another problem with luxury suitcases is that no matter how fancy and durable they are, after a couple of dozen times in the hold luggage they look positively mucky.

And so it is that Thai street market suitcases win the Technobedouin title for the Best Suitcase. They cost around 20 Euros (26 USD) a piece. In ballistic technobedouin use they last for about a year, after which you can get a new one. Compare this to a 600 Euro Samsonite; it does not matter if it lasts you ten years because with that money you could buy a cheap suitcase and invest 530 Euros in eurodepo for a year, yielding about four per cent i.e. 24 Euros at the moment (i.e. money that buys you a new suitcase once a year leaving a few Euros to grow further interest). After ten years you still have at least 500 Euros left, whereas your friend with a Samsonite only has a battered and out-of-fashion suitcase and an empty account.

As an extra bonus, you get a clean new suitcase every year. For those of you who do not visit Thailand I recommend you buy your cheap suitcases anywhere near you.

Published at 16:52

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