Sunday, December 15, 2019

When A Backpack Makes You Homesick...


It's been over twenty-seven years since I last walked on Danish soil, and almost thirty-three years since I last lived in Denmark. Yet, spotting a backpack in a bookstore brought it all back, the people, the weather, the food, the world that is Denmark.

And I only lived there a total of seventeen months and two weeks.

The backpack, made by Fjällräven, is actually a Swedish product, but people living in Scandinavia are proud to showcase things made by their cousins. I saw so many Fjällräven Kånken backpacks while I was there. Just seeing that fox logo yesterday reminded me of walking those streets, knocking on those doors, falling in love with the people and their culture.

This isn't the only thing that sends me back. Every time I see anyone wearing clogs takes me back, watching my wife enjoy her breakfast (granola topped with yogurt...) will do it, and don't get me started on going to IKEA. That place transports me. Those in-store examples of how a person can live in a four-hundred square feet of space is netop (100%...) Scandinavian. 

When we lived in Denmark I didn't buy this brand of backpack, so I don't know if they were expensive, or not. I can tell you that the one I spotted at Barnes & Noble in Farmington, Utah, yesterday definitely was expensive. 

I'm seeing more and more of these backpacks. I suppose they're the new trendy thing. Good for them. I like seeing Scandinavian produces succeed. You can do a lot worse than surrounding yourself with things from Northern Europe. 

I'm glad I have those memories come back to me from time to time. Those months I lived there changed my life, definitely for the better. 

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