Just the other day I was doing some routine household task when I stopped to think about consumerism ¹. I noticed that every now and then, when you engage in a conversation with someone that has lived a few decades ², you might hear:

“Nowadays things aren’t built to last anymore, I miss the things made in the past” (usually two or more decades ago)

Then I looked around me and thought: did they really last longer? I was not sure and I don’t want to wage war on the theme of planned obsolescence, but I caught myself studying my belongings and how some things had been there for a long time. I found it would be a funny post, took note of that and moved on.

Fast forward a few weeks and here am I, at the airport, waiting for my flight to London. As I write this, I stop and realize it will be the first time back there in 10 years, the last time being when I studied in the United Kingdom for a year at the University of Southampton ³. And if that isn’t nostalgic enough, I suddenly become aware of my surroundings and have a giggle: ain’t a lot of these things traveling with me today from back then?

I open my phone ⁴ and start typing this post. Here’s a list of decade-old stuff I have from back then and their traits:

• Wallet: I was obsessed on having a minimalist wallet back then and bought one which had an innovative “RFID shielding”, meaning no one could stealthily read my cards through the wallet. Contactless payment was far from being a thing in Brazil back then (even in the UK), but it proves itself very useful today where most of my payments are done in such a way.
• Backpack: That was my first time going overseas and when I got there, I needed a good backpack to travel light and efficiently. Little did I know that in the age of “no free hold luggage for international flights” I would be using it today.
• Kindle: a gift for being a very active volunteer on TED ⁵, this was responsible for my most active years as a reader in the late 2010s.
• Beard trimmer: if you know me, you’re aware I have a lot of facial hair. I bought a beard trimmer back then which I still use. Sure it’s meant for the UK outlet plug and 220V (which requires me to use an adaptor and a transformer, respectively), but hey, I used it today before coming to the airport!
• CamelBak water bottle: Also a gift from TED, when I attended TED Global in 2014. It shows some wear, but I take it to the gym everyday and it was just responsible for me downing 750ml of water before going through the airport security.
• Power bank: over and over I get cellphones whose batteries insist not to last, and this item has got me covered for so many trips over the last decade, I’m amazed it still works, given how people report batteries dying out. Kudos to whichever company Tecknet is or used to be.

And the list goes on, laptop, tank tops, wristwatch… I’m not sure I’m just one person that takes care of their stuff, if I hold on to them for longer than I should or if insisting in paying a bit more to get something that looks sturdier is paying off!