09/18/2026
Apparently, we need to talk about the word “backpack.” 😂
Every so often, someone comments that they would never allow themselves to be called a backpack because a backpack is “just something you carry,” “something you can take off,” or “something you can replace.”
And I think that says more about the meaning they've attached to the word than it does about the word itself.
Words don't automatically come with disrespect attached to them. People give them that power.
At the end of the day, I can call myself a passenger, a co-rider, a pillion, a backpack, or anything else. None of those words change the thing that matters most:
I'm his wife.
So why do I use “backpack”?
Because it fits us.
A backpack rides right there with you. It goes where you go. It experiences the same road, the same weather, the same curves, the same unexpected detours and the same beautiful views.
And on that motorcycle, that's exactly where I want to be.
Right behind my husband.
Not because I can't ride my own bike.
Not because I'm somehow “less than.”
And definitely not because I'm something disposable.
I ride there because I love sharing the experience with him.
There's trust in being a backpack. When you're sitting behind somebody on two wheels, your movements have to work together. You lean together. You move together. You trust each other. You're experiencing the same journey from two different seats.
And maybe that's why the name has always felt so fitting to me.
View from a Backpack was never supposed to mean “view from something insignificant.”
It means this is literally my view of the world from one of my favorite places to be—wrapped around the man I've chosen to do life with.
Thirty years together, and I'm still choosing the seat right behind him.
So no, you don't have to like the word “backpack.”
You don't have to call yourself one either.
But around here?
I'll wear the title proudly. ❤️🏍️
Because it's never really been about what I'm riding on.
It's about who I'm riding through life with.
Now I'm curious—my other backpacks, two-up riders, passengers, co-riders… whatever YOU call yourself… what does that seat mean to you?
