The world often feels bigger than ourselves, but I find that in our travelling moments we are able to forget that. As I get a taxi, plane, train and walk home, I am awarded the liberty of undisturbed reflection. It is a route I have done many times, although I still get nervous, and I know that my family will be waiting for me (whatever the circumstances may be). 

As I sit in the airport en route home, I am reminded of one of my favourite campaigns that Bottega Veneta did for the Lunar New Year 2023. Directed by Jess Jing Zou, the film ‘Reunion in Motion’ captures returning home through the perspective of the traveller. She catches this moment of still time beautifully as the different people engage with the changing landscapes, all the while highlighting the Bottega bags. Though I am aware that this is still an ad campaign, I enjoy the story it shares. With Sega Bodega’s ‘Um Um’ soundtracking the short, one is hypnotised and all the while lost in familiarity. Going beyond a person’s physical movement in travel, it shows movement in light, movement in nature, and movement of the self. There’s a disorientation as we shift between those travelling at dawn, day, and night. Though it depicts the homecoming journey for Lunar New Year, it was still a universally touching video. 

While I continue sitting in the airport, I clutch my backpack. Unlike the models in the film, I do not travel with the signature ‘Cassette’ bag. Yet at the centre of every journey, the few belongings we carry in our bag become the most important things in the world. It feels uniquely intimate. We choose our bags as our only companions, no matter the distance. As Bottega have guaranteed that their bags are for life, you will have a travel companion forever. There is obviously an underlying curated message of “craft in motion”, nodding to the craftsmanship of the bags. Bottega is known for its quality construction, and have recently even opened a school of artisanal crafts. All of this comes together in ‘Reunion in Motion’; which was accompanied by a train painted in the iconic green that travelled across China during the Lunar New Year period, with ‘on the roads that lead home, Happy New Year’ and ‘for Bottega Veneta, time is the ultimate luxury’ written on the sides. 

Looking out the aeroplane window, I squeeze my bag between my legs and watch the clouds move over the tiny homes on the hills. 

[I do not think anyone else could have captured this as well as director Jess Jing Zou did]