About eight years ago, I stumbled upon an N64 carrying bag at a garage sale in South Minneapolis. I remember when this bag was sold in the mid to late 90’s, specifically that it was bizarrely impractical. This bag is the size of a single N64 console, not including the cables, controllers, or any games.

That said, I love this thing. It is the first bag I grab to go out the door all the time. It holds sunglasses, sunscreen, a backup battery for my phone, and a few more small things. Or it holds my USB keyboard, a stand for my phone, and a journal.

I haven’t really gotten sentimental for video games yet. Around the time I turned 28, I sorta stopped being a “gamer.” Which is weird, video games were a large part of my life from as early as I remember through grad school. I still have all my original NES + SNES + N64 games, as well as PlayStation + Sega + others. I lugged those systems to New York City and back because they were a core part of my identity.

…now-a-days, not so much! But carrying this bag around is a fun little nod to my older self. If you see me out walking around, there’s a good chance this’ll be on my shoulder.