Baggage 101

Good points. That last bit made me laugh.

I recently purchased the new Rick Steves Avanti rolling tote/carry-on bag that's supposed to store under the seat - it does not fit under the coach seat of an AA flight but does fit under a business class seat. Works great for my macbook though.

Now I better go get the exact measurements - with wheels.

Frank,

Don't leave us hanging, will the Toyota and Honda fit in their garage or not?

And is it a one or two car garage?

Re the garage...is that with or without all the useless crap everyone seems to store in there. Just kidding. 24X19X9 is the size of my bag including wheels. Truth is I check it anyway. Since I make sure my international connections are always at least 3 hours long and I check in 2 hours ahead of time I haven't lost a bag since 9/11. Proviso, all bets are off with BA and the "has anyone ever heard of this airline?" carriers. As for backpacks think of highschool bookbag. Internationally you may indeed be forced to show it fits in that little metal carry-on demension display at check-in. I have a rolling carry-on 14x12x8 including wheels that does fit under an economy seat (got it from TravelSmith). In it I carry my essentials (toliet kit, extra pair of shoes, change of cloths, electronics...no lap-top). I can get on last without panicking about overhead bin space.

Brad...there is no answer because you don't have enough info--and that was my point.

Marie...your main is way to big to carry-on on any airline. Isn't it a pain to have two rolling bags...and the weight must be enormous. We would call that "packing heavy."

Actually my bags stack so I'm just dragging one and my large bag, packed, weighs 27 lbs. I am usually gone for 4 to 5 weeks at a time and take probably 10 lbs of books.

Marie...one word.....Kindle

Re: taking books: I also love to read on my holiday. On my next trip (to Italy on Luftansa IN 9 DAYS), my carry on weight is even more limited by Luftansa, so I put small paperbacks in each of my raincoat pockets. The pockets zip up. I plan to carry the coat over my arm with a sweater tucked into it; I am trying to bring enough to read by hiding the books. The books I bought are from Goodwill, so cheap, and I will leave behind the ones I finish. This trip, I am taking some classics, Jane Austen, David Cooperfield.

I am taking 2 RS travel books. I did rip out a lot of the Italy book, removing areas that I was not seeing this trip. I made a faux back cover with scrap wallpaper and taped it with wide clear packing tape in hope to keep the book together. Along with my small Italian vocabulary book, the weight of books adds up.

This trip I am using a backpack that converts to a shoulder bag with a strap; mine is from MEC, Mountain Equipment Coop much like REI. It is the lightest bag I have and fits the Luftansa size limit for carryon.

I also have a small briefcase/messenger type bag with lots of zippered pockets for my personal bag. In this bag, I will carry my camera, the 2 travel books, liquids in the 3-1-1 ziplock bag, my blowup neck pillow that folds up small, and lots of other things I am convinced I need. I am taking my own 500 ml water bottle this time; I wanted to be more environmentally sound and also save $$ by refilling my own bottle throughout the trip and at the airport. THere is nothing I hate more than spending $3 for a bottle of water as soon as I get past security at the airport. I used the water bottle on a short long weekend trip by plane. When buying a coffee after security, I asked them to fill my water bottle with tap water. It worked well. The bottle has a lid that has a hook for a carabiner, so the water bottle can easily go with me and not get lost.

HAPPY TRAVELS. June

For a 5 week trip I figure I'm packing heavy if my Convertible Backpack weighs 18lbs! I take 1 pair of pants, 3 tops, a cardigan and a dress--plus undies and miscellaneous of course.

Well my 10 lbs of books are medical books so Kindle doesn't really work well for me.