In article <1139322229.842979.152990@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
<"oconnell@slr.orl.lmco.com"> wrote:
€ Timothy J. Lee wrote:
€ > In article <1139247757.599491.183290@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
€ > oconnell@slr.orl.lmco.com wrote:
€ > >finally things that, if a delay does occur, will aid me in continuing
€ > >to enjoy my vacation while I wait. On a 2 week jaunt to europe,
€ > >it will probably include:
€ > >
€ > >food (This can be kinda volumous)
€ > >drink
€ >
€ > Wouldn't money, ATM cards, and credit cards be less voluminous to
€ > carry on? They can be used to buy food if you need some during the
€ > time your luggage is missing.
€
€ You are presuming that all carry on is as a guard against delayed
€ luggage.
€ Some of it is, but some of it is merely the stuff that one wants on the
€ plane, or immediately upon arrival. Food for long transatlantic
€ flights is
€ a classic bulky item.
I really have to question this. How much food do you really need on a
10 hour flight (which isn't, in my book, a long flight) when you're
sessile most of the time? Personally, I skip 1/2~2/3 the inflight meals
when travelling overseas from the US because I just don't need to eat
that much. Unless someone is hypoglycemic or has some other medical
condition that requires them to eat every couple of hours, I don't see
the need to bring onboard a large amount of food. As for water,
hydration is very important, but I've never had a flight where the FAs
wouldn't refill a water bottle for me, as often as I asked (I think
they're much happier giving PAXs water instead of juice/coffee/tea/soft
drinks/alcohol). One 500ml bottle should be enough.
Books, magazines, newspapers, these kinds of
€ things also start to fill the bag.
Again, how much do you need, and are you doing this intelligently.
Newspapers *are* bulky and get read quickly, so they aren't a good
choice for on-board reading material (not to mention that their form
factor isn't conducive to being read in a cramped coach seat).
Magazines are slightly better, but not much. For longer flights, I try
to find one or two books that are going to take me a few hours to dig
through.
Travel guides are helpful, but these should go in checked baggage
unless you plan to count them as in-cabin reading material. Personally,
I rely much more on on-line guides today, since finding an internet
connection is as easy as finding a coffee shop.
Expensive items fill it further.
€ And we
€ have yet to get to anything for delayed luggage. Now a days we also
€ are suppose to carry all of our film, including that in the camera.
€
I always travel with at least one SLR body, and often two (including a
D2X, which would hardly be called compact), and three or four lenses
(short zoom fast, ultra wide zoom slow, portrait and optional long
zoom. I mostly shoot people/cityscapes). I won't get into the debate
about the merits of film vs digital, but for me, the days of shooting
30-40 rolls on a trip are happily in the past. I almost never carry a
tripod, but often check a monopod. There's still some debate about
tripods/monopods as carry on. Some people report no problems, while
some report that the TSA goons won't allow them. Since I frequently
transit through LAX, home of many of goondom's lowest echelon, I don't
think the risk of having my tripod confiscated (or sent alone as
checked baggage) is worth the trouble.
My carryon is limited to one backpack which is well within size limits.
I've recently been bouncing between a Lowepro CompuTrekker AW and a
Lowepro Stealth AW, with the Stealth starting to emerge as my choice
for longer travel. There are tradeoffs, but overall I think the Stealth
is better suited for my needs. I carry on a small amount of toiletries,
notebook/charger/portable 802.11 basestation, mobile phone (x2 - i need
to get a worldphone), chargers and adapters, two books and maybe a
magazine or two, passport/papers/tickets/etc., and if necessary some
underwear and a clean shirt. If my clothes are important immediately
after landing (i.e., I go directly from the airport to a
vendor/customer site), I'll travel in the appropriate clothes/shoes.
€ There is a list of things that don't get carried on because of the
€ bulk.
€ I've eyed those noise canceling head phones but I can't justify the
€ size for something than ONLY gets used on the plane. I limit the
€ lenses I take because of bulk. I rarely transport much wine back
€ from France and Italy because of the bulk. (I've been known to
€ try packing a couple of bottles deep in my checked luggage
€ wrapped in socks and ziplock bags). I don't have one of those
€ sleep pillows they sell that wraps around the neck.
€ |