✈️ Behind the Scenes: What Inspired Baggage Claim from Beyond

Let me tell you a story—about some luggage with attitude and a travel saga that practically wrote itself.

It started with a trip to Scotland. Golf trip of a lifetime. St. Andrews Old Course, Carnoustie, and three other great courses, crisp air, history underfoot… and no clubs. No suitcase either. DHL took over custody of my belongings. First, my luggage decided to hang out in Orlando for five extra days. Then, on the return trip with FedEx, it took a detour to Memphis, presumably to see Graceland.

I thought I was being brilliant by having my luggage and golf clubs shipped ahead of time so I wouldn’t risk losing them on my flight to Scotland. They were picked up a week before I was due to arrive in St. Andrews. Boy was I wrong. Everyone else had their luggage no problem, but not me.

Naturally, this became an ordeal—but one that got funnier the more I told it. Friends laughed. I started giving the bags voices: “The driver says I’m a hybrid, not a carry-on,” one muttered. Another sighed, “At least in Memphis, they treat a Titleist with respect.” Somewhere between jet lag and storytelling, Baggage Claim from Beyond was born.

In the story, the clubs talk. The suitcases argue. And the humans? Well, they’re mostly in the way. It’s part fantasy, part therapy, and all inspired by a real-life travel mess.

But underneath the humor, there’s something that stuck with me: the idea that our possessions—especially the ones that carry our memories—might carry something more. Not just our gear, but our stories, frustrations, dreams. I’d argue my 3-wood has seen more of the world than most people. It deserved a voice.

So this piece became my comic reflection on travel, patience, and maybe the quiet power of letting go. Of control. Of expectations. Of itineraries that never quite go as planned.

Click on my Words, Worlds, and Wisdom link at the top of the page for more information on this and my other writing projects.