Have bag, will travel – or, lost in paradise. Either way, my Eagle Creek Flashpoint No Matter What Rolling Duffel did the job stuffed with beachwear, food, snorkel gear, toilet paper and vodka- all necessary items on the remote island of Elbow Cay, part of the 120-mile-long chain of islands called The Abacos, in the Bahamas. It took me three flights on two different airlines, a taxi ride, a ferry crossing and a golf cart ( over 11 hourrs in the same time zone) to get there. And, I was glad I did.
This large rolling duffel weighs in at just under 4lbs and has a monstrous 6400 cubic inches of storage space. Packing cubes and compression bags were essential in keeping personal items organized and left plenty of room for other gear and foodstuffs. And, while the duffel comes with its own carry bag, I just rolled it under my bed- a pretty perfect idea for those who travel and don’t have a lot of extra space in their hotel room or cruise cabin. I packed my heavier items at the bottom of the duffel, near the wheels, and the duffel was easy to pull and maneuver.
Why did we bring food? The grocery store only receives deliveries from the main island on Tuesdays and it’s the “slow season” on Elbow Cay (as evidenced by the sign on Vernon’s Grocery Store: open when we’re here, closed when we’re not) so my group of friends wasn’t sure what to expect. We also hold the philosophy that food, good food, is our friend. The off-season presented us with a couple of challenges, but they were hardly disappointments. Only a handful of restaurants were open (and only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights) and we snagged the last half-case of cold beer available on the entire island. My best guess is that there were about 30 tourists on the island during this time (including our group of eight) so we easily negotiated boat excursions above and below the water with Francis at Froggies Out Island Adventures and had beaches to ourselves.
Thank you, Abaco Islands. I’ll be back. -Rochelle, October 2014
