The Modern Shopping Wormhole
How has every purchase for something not in your regular roster of consumer habits turned into a multi-week research fueled saga these days? I needed a new backpack. Something bigger than my current camera sling but smaller than the bulky over the shoulder camera bag I only use for local shoots. Camera-accessible, water bottle-friendly, laptop-compatible, travel-ready. Not that complicated, right?
Three weeks later, I had watched dozens of YouTube reviews, compared specs across multiple spreadsheets, and descended into the AI-powered recommendation rabbit hole that is modern shopping. Peak Design versus Nomatic. Everyday versus Travel. V1 versus V2. The paradox of choice had me paralyzed.
The internet admirably convinces us that it is here to make shopping easier, but it’s made it infinitely more complex. Every product has seventeen variations, forty-three reviews, and twelve “better alternatives.” YouTube reviewers dissect every zipper pull and fabric choice with scientific precision. AI algorithms suggest products based on products you haven’t even bought yet.
What should have been a thirty-minute decision became a part-time research project. I knew more about backpack construction than most backpack designers, yet I was no closer to actually buying one.
Finally, I just pulled the trigger. Not because I’d found the perfect option, but because I’d absorbed enough information to trust my gut. Sometimes the best decision isn’t the most informed one, it’s the one that gets you unstuck.
The backpack will hopefully arrive before my next trip so I can field test it and see how I like it. Whether it ends up being the bag I keep and enjoy using remains to be seen, but in the meantime, the weight of the unmade decision has thankfully lifted.