Lowa

I regularly hike in south eastern Switzerland over Christmas time in my redwings, and they are definitely not appropriate to the business style of dress there. I would suggest waiting until you arrive to get a feel for the style if your intention is to blend into the culture there.

Both my grandparents gave me a saving bond for holidays and birthdays starting when I was born. I didn’t appreciate it until I suddenly had a bunch of extra cash to put down on a house.

Standard size harmony, medium height. It was the height they marketed for side sleepers. I think the high one is for back sleepers, and the low for stomach.

edited to add: you can find them on the big auction site for around a hundred bucks or so, and they’re drop shipped from harmony. Definitely don’t pay the hundred and sixty bucks they advertise for.

My wife loves her purple pillows. She’s been using one for two years, and it’s still just like the day we bought it.

Have you found one that doesn’t put out a ton of heat?

Yup, and I agree with your sentiments. I have two Briggs bags that I travel with regularly, and they’re great bags but they are less suited to full time use. I’ve managed to break all of the exterior compression straps, and that damn external handle, with having to hoist it up 7 feet to the baggage door, catches on the lip every damn time.

But I guess that’s really outside the scope of this discussion, since Briggs and Riley is a bit outside the op’s budget unless they’re looking into the used market.

Having lived out of a suitcase professionally for the last 15 years, I can definitely say that you‘re going to want the external pockets that soft bags offer. Hard shells are ok if you’re just going somewhere and unpacking everything, but for daily access to stuff they kinda suck.

Take a look at Luggageworks, they make some pretty good bags in your price range, and I guarantee you’ve seen hundreds of them if you’ve ever been to an airport.