I remember when nalgene bottles first got popular. I was in high school and all of a sudden everyone was walking around with these indestructible, multicolored water bottles.
There were a few different ways you could rock the nalgene look. You could go sporty, with the mouth guard and some kind of team logo detailed on the side. Some kids used them to disguise various, non-water liquids that were not approved for consumption in school (or any other time you might be under 21). Once the all-star pitcher of our baseball team earned a place in sport legend by breaking one into bits against a wall after a particularly hard loss.
The coolest look though - the shining example of everything a nalgene was supposed to be - was the nicked, scratched, beat to shit bottle covered in exotic stickers. I wanted one like that. Everyone wanted one like that. That bottle had been places. That bottle had stories. That bottle belonged to someone who did those things, and that person was everything I wanted to be. Confident, traveled, fit, compelling. Enigmatic.
Today during my workout I looked at my water bottle and for the first time, I saw a nicked, scratched, beat to shit bottle that has stories. And damn, is that true! That nalgene has traveled through most of Eastern Europe with me. It has a stamp from Ukraine, a sticker from my university, the Austrian flag, a smiley face from a summer job, a hiking sticker from the Czech Republic, and stickers from most countries I've been in. It's been dunked in rivers, stayed out in the rain, used as a paperweight and served as random game pieces. It's held lots of things besides liquid and has started many a conversation.
Even though I continue to see it as the plain, green plastic water bottle from way back in the day, it's morphed into this thing hardly recognize. It's a functional document, a catalog of my life since 2004 and could be considered a book just as easily as a fashion statement.
It's nicked and scratched and beat to shit and yes, it's got some ridiculous stories attached to it. I don't know if I'm compelling and enigmatic, but I am confident, traveled and fit. I've been places, done things and damnit, I'm on my way somewhere interesting.
World, I've earned my cool factor. And I have the nalgene to prove it. That is today's good thing.
Haha, I remeber that Nalgene! Glad to hear that it's still making its rounds. Unfortunately, mine sprung a leak and is no longer useful at holding any liquids. However, because of the memories that are asspciated with it, I don't think I'll ever get rid of it.
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