Backpack text, again

I went to the best coffee shop in Chicago recently and plunked down next to a guy who had a backpack that I had never seen before. This is an event, y’all. I completed research for a new backpack recently. Researching a new object takes as long as it takes. There are many backpack brands, backpacks are a personal decision, and they’re a significant investment. Entire industries of influencers & content marketers exist because of backpacks. Some venerated brands are fully off the radar of these people. Some are four miles away from me, and some are exclusively sold in Japan, requiring a trip to Japan to know anything about them. Some are just impossible to find. As a result, the full process took three years across as many continents. I know a lot about backpacks, and I know about as many backpack brands as you can imagine.

“Excuse me, do you mind if I ask what kind of backpack that is?”
“Oh, I made it myself.”