I am finally getting a little better at traveling. I have been traveling domestically and
internationally for the past 40 years. I
have traveled as a child, an adult, and a family with kids in and out of
diapers. I feel like I can pack
appropriately for both checked luggage and carry-on luggage. However, I am finally starting to appreciate
some conveniences and am investing money in making travel more pleasant.
Over my traveling life, I have seen the deregulation of the
airlines and increased airport security.
That has changed the way I pack.
I have made a few purchases recently that I am extremely
happy with. I tried out ebags packing
cubes for a trip overseas. The primary
motivation was being able to find my stuff as we were going to be living out of
two shared 27 inch bags for two weeks.
These things were amazing and we ended up buying sets for my wife and
the kids.
Another key purchase was the Scottevest Travel Vest. I hate having a lot of stuff in my pockets
when I am sitting on an airplane seat, driving a rental car, and on the go at
attractions. I used to use a hip belt to
decrease the strain, but that is not organized or fashionable. The Scottevest is both. While it is a little pricey, I have used the
vest on 3 different trips with and without family and I love this thing. It is somewhat overdesigned, but it flat out
works.
Recently I also picked up the ebags TLS mini 21” carry-on
bag. I bought this, because our current carry-on
bag kind of sucks. It is pretty small
and the outside pockets don’t leave a lot of room for organizing stuff. With the extra fee for checked bags, I
thought it was important to have a carry-on that I could pack for a 3-4 day
trip solo. When traveling as a family
with a stroller, we carry-on backpacks for obvious reasons. We will always check at least one bag when
traveling as a family. The TLS mini is
pretty nice. It is feature rich and
slips right into the overhead bins. It
appears reasonably durable, but time will tell.
Like the Scottevest, it is overdesigned, but that is not necessarily a
bad thing.
I also own a Kindle.
I find that I use this as much at home and while traveling. I don’t think it is a big leap forward over
paperback books, but it is pretty convenient.
When we traveled overseas, I downloaded 3 books and managed to get
through two of them. I have also used
apple nano devices for in-flight entertainment and have been really happy with
these as well. The biggest downside of
most apple products is battery life. The
monochrome Kindle has great battery life.
I need to get a little more organized when I am actually on
the plane. The seat pocket and open
drinks are just a pain. Going forward, I
want to have a jacket, entertainment and snacks under the seat in front of me. I will either bring a beverage
container from home or buy a water or soda at the terminal for a couple of
dollars rather than deal with spills and fiddling with that useless tray. I also need to experiment with neck support
devices and pillows so that I sleep better on planes.
No comments:
Post a Comment