Jun 11th, 2007
Flying High and Dry
`For a man who has love, effort is a rest. He will travel any distance to visit his friends.’`Abdu’l-Baha, from the Baha’i Writings
Flying away to visit friends? Want to beat baggage charges on Ryanair? Hate queueing to check in? Worried your baggage will get lost or stolen or go missing? Don’t want to pay overweight charges? Or maybe you just don’t want to wait around the baggage carousel when you could be enjoying time on the beach.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be offering some simple ideas about what to pack and how to pack it so that you take just what you need and nothing else.
I know of lot of you are visiting the UK this summer for a great reunion! But do you know about the travel regulations in the UK? Read this story!
A couple of weeks ago I flew from Stansted to Italy Ciampino by Ryanair. I was going to the European Baha’i Business Forum (EBBF) conference at the conference centre at Acuto so I only had hand luggage, as I was only going away for five days.
I didn’t have to check in, having checked in on line and received priority boarding as a result. Going through the security check, I took my laptop and clear plastic bag with toiletries out of my suitcase. But there was a hold-up. The woman in front of me was clearly upset. The security guard asked her to open her case, then peered inside. He lifted out an elegant make-up bag and opened it. Then he began to discard very single thing in it into a cardboard box — lotions, creams and shampoo, shower gel and conditioner, hair spray, suntan oil, toothpaste, lipstick and perfume - all expensive and all in gigantic containers
The woman looked confused. She tried to explain: `When I got to the check-in they said my suitcase was too heavy so I took my make-up case out and shoved it into my hand luggage.’
`None of this can go through,’ said the security guard. `The liquids are more than 100 mls.’
`But it was in my suitcase before,’ wailed the woman. `I only took it out because of the weight. What will I do now?’
`You should have left that in your hold luggage,’ the security guard observed, `and taken out something else instead.’
`Now you tell me,’ said the woman, with feeling.
This is why I started my blog on travel! And thanks to Barney Leith, here it is!
Tips:
* If you are flying out of an EU airport - or from Albania, Kosovo, Iceland, Norway or Switzerland - even if you have flown in from the United States or are going back there, you can only take liquids, pastes, cosmetics and gels into the cabin if they are in containers of less than 100 mls. (3.5 fl. oz). This includes water!
* All the containers have to be carried in a separate clear plastic, zip-top or re-sealable bag no bigger than 20 cm x 20cm (8 in x 8 in).
* The liquid containers all have to fit easily into the bag and the bag must be completely closed.
* When you get to the security search at the airport, you have to take the plastic bag out of the cabin bag so it can be x-rayed separately.
Oddly, when you get through the security check, you can any amount of liquid in any size and take that on board!
And before you ask, I have no idea what they did with all those huge bottles of liquids taken from that passenger - but I will check that out and post it here!
Happy travels!
Technorati Tags: travel, EBBF, Baha’i, airport, luggage, packing
Thanks for the really helpful travel tips. I shall save this post and refer to it again when I travel.
Thanks for the tips Wendi! I’ve referred to your blog in a recent post.
Regards, Tobbot, aka Tobstv
Hi Wendy,
Everything you’re saying is very true. Next to the regulations on liquids, also any drugs you take with you have to go in that little plastic bag. Because of physicial problems I need a lot of medication, and am always worried that they might not accept it and throw it out: it cannot be replaced and I really need it (as opposed to the parfumes…). But they so far have never checked it or looked at it twice, although I always bring a special passport for my medication to go along with it.
So, just to make sure not everyone is getting nightmares
Nicole (the Netherlands)
Welcome to the Baha’i blogging world Wendi. It’s a fun place to be in. I’m including your blog in my blog roll. Looking forward to traveling with you on your various journeys.
Traveling is a wonderful way to develop the spiritual qualities of detachment and contentment with little. In my youth my motto was “be overly prepared”, but my travel requirements have shrunk with age. Air travel in particular seems to get harder and more time-consuming, which is just as well given its high environmental impact. With fewer and fewer things that can be trusted in a security check, it will only be a matter of time before someone finds a way to make cloth explosive, and we shall all have to undress to go through security. Imagine what that would do to air travel.
The other advantage of travel is its sporting quality, often combining the characteristics of the 100 meter dash, the marathon and weighlifting in a single event, not to mention requiring a good sense of orientation in unfamiliar airports and the ability to alternate great physical effort and standing in lines for extended periods. It is the one olympic event that athletes and spectators share equally.
Arthur (Switzerland)