pack right, pack light

Traveling can be hard work. The word travel comes from the old English word “travail” meaning trouble (work or torment) which in turn comes from the Latin Word Tripalium (meaning a 3-staked instrument of torture)!

Planning for a business trip of a long-awaited vacation. But with some preplanning on the traveler’s part, many problems can be eliminated. The climate ahead and your activities should dictate what to pack and how much. Travel agents are a fine source of information, and their service is always free. They have hotel/motel directories and detailed brochures for virtually every location in the world.

To steal a line from the movie The Graduate: “plastics” - using plastics can prevent wrinkles. If you like carry-on bags, place shirts in a professional cleaners bag (on hangers) as well as suits or sports jackets and hang as usual, A dress shirt travels very well in an attaché case in a 2-gallon plastic ziplock bag for the very light traveler. On longer trips, 2 blouses or 2 shirts fit easily inside these bags and will not wrinkle.

Almost everyone remembers to place their name on the outside of their luggage. How about the inside? If the tag is pulled off, the airline personnel can look inside the luggage. All airlines have a ring of master luggage keys and within minutes can open your bag to find your inside ID.

When checking luggage at the curb, always wait and watch to see that all bags are tagged correctly and placed on the carousel. Also, Jackson Hole, Wyoming can be confused with Jackson, Mississippi unless you make your destination clear to the sky cap. A colorful piece of yarn tied in a knot on the handle will help in identifying the bag at the end of the trip.

Make a list of your luggage contents before you leave, and keep it with you for further identification.