Posted by I was sitting on a plane when a bag tag fell off someone’s bag.
That is the whole origin story. No grand plan, no brainstorming session, just a little tag on the floor of an airplane and a dad whose brain never quite turns off. I picked it up, looked at it, and thought: this little thing has been everywhere. It has seen more of the world than most people. What if it had a story to tell?
I typed the idea into my Notes app before we landed. And then it sat there for almost a year.
The struggle bus
Here is the honest part. I travel constantly for work. I am gone more than I want to be, and when I am home I am trying to be present, not hunched over a manuscript. Personal projects like this one end up on the struggle bus. The idea was good. The time was not.
If you are a parent with a demanding job and a Notes app full of things you meant to do, you know exactly what I am talking about.
From the Notes app to the bookshelf
What finally moved it was asking for help. With some assistance, the idea came out of the Notes app and onto the KDP bookshelf. We built it, we tested it, we fixed what was broken, and then one day it was published and live on Amazon.
Almost a year from a fallen bag tag to a real book with our name on it.
This story is really about our family
Tags is not really about a luggage tag. It is about the time I spend away from my family, and the trips that bring us back together.
Look at our front door before any trip. Five carry-on bags lined up, each in its own color. Mine is black. Devon’s is sage green. Kennedy’s is pink. Sawyer’s is beige. Maddox’s is blue. Our custom Solgaard bags, one per person, unmistakable from across the terminal.
Every one of those bags has a tag on it. Every one of those tags has been somewhere. And every one of those bags comes home.
That is the story. A little tag on a big journey, out in the world and always finding its way back to the people it belongs to. I know it sounds like a crazy idea for a children’s book, but stand in our hallway on travel day and look at those five bags, and tell me it is not about us.
It is about us. It was always about us.
Tags: Small Bag. Big Journey. is available now on Amazon. Buy Tags today and go on your next adventure.
