More about Luggage

When you are planning a trip, it is very important to think about the luggage that you will carry. After all, it is thrown around by airport luggage carriers, poked into by TSA, and pushed into overhead bins much too small for its bulk. You also need to think of your destination, the weather, clothing that is acceptable for your destination, and how you will deal with it once it is in your two hands.

My husband is always telling me that we take too much on our trips; that we have only two hands and don't need any more pieces than that. This is very true when you get to a luggage carousel and you find that your luggage has been unloaded and is somewhere in a pile with other people's belongings. We always make the mistake of having so much that we have to get a cart to haul it through customs and security and then end up leaving a coat or sweater behind. A word of warning - a cart is a big hindrance especially when everyone else in line has a full cart as well.

I do not buy expensive luggage. Why spend a fortune for designer luggage when it is going to get scratched, mauled, torn, rained on, and bent. And what should you do to identify your black luggage from everyone else's black luggage. We finally learned to tie a ribbon or a luggage strap around the bags we take to identify them from others' black suitcases. This doesn't always work because everyone else has the same idea that we have.

The airlines say that I can carry on a bag of a certain size as well as a personal item. Most of the time, my 21-inch bag has to be squeezed in the overhead bin, especially if I put something in the outside pockets. I learned that a large healthy back bag will give me enough space for necessities that I just must have on the plane. If I take my laptop, I can also put personal items inside its case and still have two good-sized places to have my necessities with me. The only problem is that if we're in an airport trying to eat or shop, we always have to be sure to keep our eyes on our belongings.

One of the problems about traveling in a car is that you are not limited to what you can take. This is great, except when we travel by car, we are usually staying in a different hotel every night which means that we make multiple trips to the car, sometimes up the one slow elevator that the hotel operates, to get all of our stuff. And of course, everything has to come inside since the hotels say they are not responsible for items left in the car.

Wheeled luggage is the best invention ever unless you happen to pull it over someone's feet. It is a lot easier to roll a suitcase down a concourse than to try to carry it. But it is very hard to close the door on a restroom stall if you are dragging a 21-inch bag behind you - there just isn't space for a person and a bag to move out of the way so the door will shut freely. And it is almost impossible to try to roll two bags at the same time. I have never been able to master using the luggage strap on the largest piece to securely hold the smaller piece without both of them tipping over. And wheeled luggage is not too great when you have to use a crowded elevator, an escalator, or stairs, because it is always in the way.

Wouldn't it be great if we didn't need so many necessities when we travel? Our son can go over two weeks with a daypack and large backpack. We need to take his advice - pack what you think you need and take half of it out.