Summer 1990 – On the eve of my 10th grade year (1990), I thumbed through an L.L. Bean catalog, and pointed to this backpack. My Mom picked up the phone and ordered it (pre-Internet).
1990-93 – Used every day of high school
1992 – Bought a patch symbolizing my favorite drummer, John Bonham. Mom kindly sewed it on the rear pocket.
1993-7 – Regular use during college.
1998 – Used as a flotation devise in the Jordan River (northern Israel). I inflated plastic bags and stuck them in the central compartment. Worked well.
1999 – Was my lone piece of luggage for a 3 month trip in Eastern Africa. The lady at the Delta check-in counter saw it and said, “You’re going for three months and just taking that?”
I smiled knowingly, “It’s all I need.”
2000-7 – Intermittent duty as beach bag, workout bag, pool bag, or weekend bag
Summer 2008 – my “carry-on” for Guatemala
There are plenty of new and exciting backpacks out there (the newest ones have little portholes where you can snake headphones from your iPod!). Though road-worn, this bag is in perfect condition–no rips and the zippers work great. One must celebrate these things. Thank you, Green Backpack.
Wow Lee,
You should try making a T.V. commercial for L.L. Bean. Especially now that airlines are charging for luggages… lol. I hope you enjoy days in Guatemala.
Osvaldo
Hey Lee,
Glad you made it safely and are enjoying it to this point. Tyler also has an orange LL Bean backpack that he has used since middle school – since around ’98. They’re definitely good backpacks!
Keep safe and I’ll keep reading your posts.
Those things are great aren’t they… mine’s still going strong since sometime around 1992 or 1993 (about sixth grade through college and law school and several trips) although my Phish patch fell off (but that was mostly due to my own weak attempt at sewing it on).