Easy luggage

PharCyDe · Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 64 Location: Tennessee, USA

Checking your luggage at an airport is always nerve-wrecking. I always imagine that my bags are not going to wind up at the place I do, and usually make sure when I go to my lay-over aiport that my luggage is going to be going to the right plane! I since then have had to go on some 4-5 day trips. What I suggest is to use a small-medium rolling suitcase and bring it on board. Especially American Airlines has made the carry-on storage more abundant for people who want to bring their luggage on board with them instead of checking it. If you bring your luggage with you there is much less of a chance that your luggage will end up somewhere different than you do!

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

PharCyDe wrote: Checking your luggage at an airport is always nerve-wrecking. I always imagine that my bags are not going to wind up at the place I do, and usually make sure when I go to my lay-over aiport that my luggage is going to be going to the right plane! I since then have had to go on some 4-5 day trips. What I suggest is to use a small-medium rolling suitcase and bring it on board. Especially American Airlines has made the carry-on storage more abundant for people who want to bring their luggage on board with them instead of checking it. If you bring your luggage with you there is much less of a chance that your luggage will end up somewhere different than you do!
I often take month-long vacations and will have to bring along something a little bigger than a carry-on. I keep all my valuables, camera stuff, etc in my carry-on, and just in case my check-in bag should become lost, a change of undergarments & a T-shirt to sleep in. I have had my bags lost 3 times in the past 2 years, and all 3 times it's been in the U.S.!!!
:evil:

PharCyDe · Joined: 10 Apr 2004 Posts: 64 Location: Tennessee, USA

Yes, there are definitely those times when you can't carry your luggage on with you. I totally agree that you should put some necessities in your carry on in case your luggage is lost. I always keep a bag with a toothbrush, an extra pair of clothes, etc in it. If my lugggage did in fact get lost, at least I'd have the necessities

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

Picking the right suitcase and learning to pack light are essential. Make sure when selecting a rolling suitcase that you get one that really is a legal carry on -- for the vast majority of airlines around the world this means that the bag is no greater than 22"x14"x9". Some airlines -- particularly British Airways -- have weight limits on carry-on suitcases as well as size limits.

I just purchased an ingenious roll-aboard suitcase. It has a companion day-pack that you can zip onto the main suitcase, so when you're in flat areas like airports you can just roll the whole thing. When you're at your destination you can zip off the day pack and use that while you're sight seeing. And, best of all, if you're in an area where rolling your luggage is impossible, you can zip open the back panel of the rollaboard, revealing backpack straps. The back panel is padded and folds down over the base of the suitcase to protect your lower back. I wouldn't go backpacking in the woods with this, but it's a great combination for getting around a variety of travel situations.

Now on to packing light: discover clothes made from Cool Max. You can wash them in the sink and they WILL be dry the next day. I went to South East Asia for 17 days, but only brought 4 days worth of clothes. Everything fit in my rollaboard.

Interesting checked baggage anecdote: I sort of think that airlines losing bags is more of a US airline problem. Don't ask me why...maybe it has to do with how people feel about their jobs and work in this country...see, one day I had to fly from Yangon, Myanmar, to Siem Reap, Cambodia. I had a 4 hour layover in Bangkok, and I was changing airlines from Thai Airways International to Bangkok Airways. I was tired of hauling my bag around because it was getting heavy with all the things I was adding to it in Asia, so my husband said "oh, let's just check the bags." I was nervous about losing the bags since it was going to be a transfer from one airline to another AND since they don't have those computerized bag tags in Yangon (they do in Bangkok). The lady at the check-in counter was so calm and exuded such an air of competence and confidence...she carefully hand-wrote out the baggage tag and the transfer tag...and lo and behold later that day my bags were right there when I arrived in Siem Reap. Contrast that with United losing my bags in Chicago on a San Francisco->Chicago->Manchester (NH) route and taking three days to find them!!!!

Some more packing light tips:

Pare down your cosmetics to the bare essentials, which really should be a decent cleanser and sun block in my book. You don't really need your makeup, and your skin will survive a couple of weeks without your special toners, masks, etc.

If you wear contacts, either leave them at home and wear glasses or get the one-a-day throw-away kind. This way you won't have to bring any cleaning supplies or anything else other than one of those tiny bottles of rewetting drops.

Try to get by on one pair of shoes. If you can't, don't ever bring more than one other pair -- think one for heavy duty walking and touring, and another that is still quite comfortable but is a bit nicer for going out.

Got a lot of grungy t-shirts, socks and undewear that you're about throw out but could wear a few more times? Take them on the trip with you and throw them away as you go. This way you'll have room for whatever you buy while you're gone. I threw just about everything out that I brought to wear on my trip to Tokyo -- the only stuff that came home with me was what I wore on the plane, a nice dress, and a pair of shoes. The rest of my bag was stuffed with Japanese goodies.

Think small. Target has selection of travel-sized bottles of shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, mouthwash, toothpaste, and even hairspray and deoderant. Yes, I know you can buy miniature bottles and fill them with your own stuff, but if you've spent money on Naglene bottles you won't be able to throw them out on your return trip to save space/weight!

My mom calls me the Queen of Packing light, but this past April I took a cruise with her. Since I knew I was going to be in the same place every night and would only have to pack/unpack once for the week, I went crazy and brought this HUGE suitcase loaned to me by a friend. I brought 10 pairs of shoes and 14 different outfits plus exercise and swim clothes for a mere 7 days. It was like I was indulging all my packing urges after going on so many trips where I've brought as little as possible :-)

Jonathan · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 185

Some great tips there Laura... and I love the cruise story! :lol:

Laura · Joined: 16 May 2004 Posts: 446 Location: San Francisco

What's even more amusing about that cruise was that I flew to Ft. Lauderdale on Continental to get on the boat. Continental has a weight limit for coach, if you go over the limit you have to pay as much as $80 extra, depending on how far over you are. My huge bag full of shoes and pretty much everything Summery I own weighed 45 1/2 pounds. Continental's weight limit is 50 pounds! It's a good thing I hardly bought anything while I was away, or I'd have gone over limit coming back. And I did wear everything I packed except for one shirt.

wizard · Joined: 21 Feb 2005 Posts: 15

Something similar like this happened to me.It was 6th January when i was coming back from Karachi to Dubai.I had my whole family with me, we had done extremely hell lotta shopping.We got stuck in the customs for 4 hours and then we had to pay like 15 % fine like 250 $ and after damn 4 hours they allowed us to go.That was the day i never forgot.Damn freaking 4 hours standing with the customs.You can realize it yourself lol and so on after that i only care 2 bags maximum with me so i dont have this same problem again.Hella kind of secure and safe.