I have traveled a lot, yet I am still learning new rules about how to pack for a trip.\u00a0\u00a0 At the same time, I am learning that some of my friends and family members who I considered very well traveled still have not learned all of these rules.<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 Never Pack Anything Valuable In Your Checked Luggage<\/strong> Yes, this is obvious to many people.\u00a0\u00a0 Nevertheless, I recently had a situation where a family member had their luggage delayed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 She was worried about what would happen to her electronics if the bag were lost.\u00a0\u00a0 Uh Oh.\u00a0 Electronics, and just about anything valuable other than clothing, is excluded from compensation when an airline loses your luggage.\u00a0\u00a0 Even then, furs and other valuable clothing items are still excluded.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Always carry on medicine, electronics, jewelry, irreplaceable photographs and anything else you can’t afford to lose.\u00a0\u00a0 If you must check them, read the list of excluded items and purchase insurance for anything you must check beyond the covered limit.<\/p>\n 2. Pack As If Your Luggage Will Be Delayed <\/strong>You learn this the first time you fly from a warm climate to a cold one and all of your winter clothes are delayed in checked baggage.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When you pack a carry on, pretend like you will have to live out of it for at least 24 hours.\u00a0\u00a0 My wife and I did this on our honeymoon, and a single bag was delayed 24 hours.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We just went about our business, knowing that our essential items had been with us as carry ons.\u00a0\u00a0 We had bathing suits, sandals and everything else we needed to enjoy the beach rather than shop for supplies and submit receipts.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 No, you won’t always be able to carry on everything that you will need for 24 hours after you arrive, but at least you can carry the things that you can’t easily or rent at your destination.\u00a0 No matter where you go, you should always have a change of clothing on your carry on.<\/p>\n 3. Be Self Reliant<\/strong> Never pack more than you can comfortably walk a few blocks with.\u00a0\u00a0 Curb side check ins and baggage porters are great, but they aren’t always there when you need them.\u00a0\u00a0 Small airports in particular can be a ghost town when your flight arrives late at night.\u00a0 My trick is to pack one suitcase with wheels and a second bag that can be attached to the wheeled one.<\/p>\n 4. Cross Pack<\/strong> When I fly with my wife, I make sure to put some of my essentials her bag, and she puts some of her clothing in mine.\u00a0\u00a0 If one of our bags is lost or delayed, it minimizes the impact.\u00a0\u00a0 On a long trip, that can give us an extra few days to allow\u00a0 the bag to catch up with us, or give us extra time to find replacements for our belongings.\u00a0\u00a0 Even if you are traveling alone and have to check multiple bags, don’t put all of your underwear in one of them.<\/p>\n 5. Go With Cheap Luggage<\/strong> As much as I like nice stuff (don’t ask me how much my bicycles cost), I go cheap when it comes to luggage.\u00a0\u00a0 I know that it is likely my bags will be scuffed, torn, or shredded before the airline looses them.\u00a0\u00a0 In that case, I will not shed a tear.\u00a0\u00a0 When I seek compensation, my best recollection of what I paid for the bags will likely be far more than reality.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At the price I pay at places like Ross, TJ Max, and Tuesday Morning, I can afford to replace them every 5-10 years anyways.\u00a0\u00a0 These days, I carry luggage that costs less than a typical baggage fee.<\/p>\n 6. Pack An Extra Duffel<\/strong> Isn’t it funny how you can never seem to pack all of your stuff in the same space when you are returning from a trip?\u00a0\u00a0 Isn’t it amazing how an airline’s baggage scale shows your bag as being overweight in one direction, but not in another?\u00a0\u00a0 Having a small, extra duffel solves both problems.\u00a0\u00a0 More than once I had to offload a few heavy items to the duffel when I came home with an unplanned souvenir or\u00a0 when one of my bags was supposedly overweight.<\/p>\n 7. Never Pack To The Max<\/strong> You should always leave about 10% of your bag empty and keep it at least 10% below the weight limit.\u00a0 To do otherwise, is to court disaster, even with a spare duffel around.<\/p>\n These are my rules and they have served me well.\u00a0\u00a0 Does anyone out there care to add to the list?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have traveled a lot, yet I am still learning new rules about how to pack for a trip.\u00a0\u00a0 At the same time, I am learning that some of my friends and family members who I considered very well traveled still have not learned all of these rules. 1.\u00a0 Never Pack Anything Valuable In Your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n