Typically, I travel very light. I love getting on a plane with my carry on and my computer bag. Typically, I pull out my old school book printed on paper to read on the plane but will put the computer to good use once I reach my destination.

It has been a very very long time since I have checked a bag. If I know I am going someplace for an extended visit then I prefer to send items ahead via FedEx rather than hassle with checking them at the airport and waiting around for bags once I have landed. When I reach a new destination it is way more fun to just hop off the plane and be on my way.

But today there are bags to check.

One of the things I love doing in the whole world is traveling. And traveling with my kids and my family is absolutely the best. Today I get to travel with a couple of my kids and so that is awesome. I love everything about traveling. Even waiting in line is ok with me because it gives me time to look up at the list of destinations and dream about where I might want to go on my next adventure.

Here are some of my travel tips:

• Do your best to give yourself enough time so that it is never a stressful situation.
• Pack everything (especially delicates - aka undies) in ziplock bags because it makes it easier to pack and these days every bag is inspected and so it provides the most assurance that the contents of my bag will arrive clean and untouched.
• Mix and Match.  Take as few clothes as possible and make sure everything works with every item in your bag.  If one item only works with one outfit then you should consider leaving it at home.
• Get a great scarf.  I have a wonderful big pashmina scarf that I wear on the plane to keep me warm from the AC and I also wrap it over myself during meals - if you are on a flight serving food.  It is Murphy’s Law of flight that if you are wearing clothes on the flight that you also want to wear at your destination that the plane will hit turbulence exactly at the moment that you are about to consume some food or drink something colorful.
• Remember chewing gum.  Chewing gum on take off and landing can help pop your ears and make for a more comfortable ride.  But for the benefit of your fellow flyers get some gum like mint or wintergreen that will not exude offensive gum fumes.  Please leave the bubbleyum bubblegum at home.
• Build-a-Bears make exceptional travel pillows.  You can purchase one of those silly looking U shaped pillows for travelling but I have found the Build-a-Bear not only works way better but also has several advantages over the U pillow.  The Build-a-bear will conform to your neck better, if placed between your stomach and the seatbelt can help a mildly upset tummy, it costs less than the U pillow AND if you get to your destination and need a quick gift you have one in hand.  I have even considered giving my build-a-bear to a screaming child on the plane a couple of times which would have provided me with much better sleep than a U pillow.  But fortunately the parents were able to get the kiddos under control and I was able to keep my bear.
• Try not to get too upset if plans change.  Connections are missed - planes are delayed and cancelled - Things happen.  Most people in the world are reasonable people and will help you along the way.  All other people make for a really good story when you reach your destination.

I’ll let you know how this checked bag thing works out today.  Until tomorrow!  Remember - every moment in your life is a “Once in a lifetime opportunity”.

Yeah, well, my mom (who is my favorite and best editor of all time) caught that one for me on a report I was working on in college about Role Models. This was pre-spell check but even then spell check wouldn’t have helped me.

You still need to think and edit and even have someone else look over your writing if it is intended for anyone other than yourself to read too. (Mom, did that last sentence make any sense?).

Here are some of the other most commonly missed by spell check

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

The Web 2.0 world is a wonderful thing. One of my favorite sites is Twitter. The great thing about it is the ability to connect with people all over the world with similar interests that I would have never found otherwise.

The second thing I love about Twitter is immediate feedback - the immediate gratification. There have been a number of times when I have posted something to my blog that I thought was absolutely brilliant. Then I go to twitter and I can almost hear the crickets chirping it is so quiet.

Then I’ll post something that I think is interesting and I am excited about but the post itself was put together very quickly. And all of a sudden will hear from folks on Twitter that I have hit the mark. So, it is a good way to gauge whether or not what I am posting is connecting with anyone out there.

It is also a great way for companies to stay in touch with what their customers are thinking. The search feature allows companies to determine quickly if there is good spin or bad buzz whirling around about a product or promotion of theirs.

The very most fun thing is when I find other people who are also upbeat and excited about life. It helps if they have a fondness for Haiku’s too.

Check out one of my new fav’s just found thru twitter
StoriesMyNanaTells.com
Fun outlook on life AND a bookclub - what more can you ask for?

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POST SCRIPT

I’m not the only one who loves Twitter. I had written this post and went on twitter only to be sent this link to another article about how much we love twitter. READ THE ARTICLE HERE.

According to a recent post by Matt Heston (www.mattheston.com) video gamers really do have class - for the most part. They can be a very classy bunch. At this next Penny Arcade Expo (PAX 2010) you will not find a bunch of scantilly clad women out on the exhibit floor trying to pawn the latest greatest video to unsuspecting gamers who spend more time with their virtual girlfriends than with actual women.

This was very reassuring news to the Mom of 4 video gamers. Each kid is completely different and so just when I think I have the whole video game thing figured out it turns out that I only have it figured out for one of them. One is an extreme geek, the other more of a third person shooter, the other a fashion and karoake gamer and still another plays any game with sword play.

The interesting thing to me about Matt’s article is that it really illustrated to me the evolution of the video game world. Games are changing, gamers are growing up and there are some very serious gamers out there.

If you ever get a chance to go to a video game conference I highly recommend it. Sure it is fun to see how many girls are going to show up dressed as Princess Peach and how many Mario or Luigis you can spot at the event. For me I was happy if I was able to identify the character at all. I knew that some of these folks were in costume, that was for sure, I just didn’t know which games they are representing.

But the most interesting part of the conference for me were the key note speaker and the panel discussions. Last year I was fortunate enough ( and I mean fortunate - I almost didn’t get in ) to see the Key Note speaker for the PAX 2009 conference in Seattle, Ron Gilbert. I looked at the program guide and thought it would be interesting to hear what he had to say and there wasn’t anything else at that same time that looked more interesting to me so I went to the arena where he was going to be speaking about an hour early to check it out and make sure I knew where to go for his talk. The security guys at the door were announcing that if anyone was interested in hearing the talk they should get in the queue right now because they were about to close the doors. So, I entered a room about the size of a football stadium and got into a bank teller like line that snaked back and forth up and down the length of the room over and over again. I didn’t even count how many times it snaked back and forth.

I know! Right. Who is Ron Gilbert anyway? I had never heard of him (sorry Ron). But I was in line now so I thought I would see this through. I looked around and aside from just a handful of moderately geeky looking people the room seemed to be filled with pretty normal looking folks. Nobody that I would stop and stare at if they walked past me on the street and then whisper to my friend “Obvious Gamer”.

So, after queuing up for the key note speech it was only about 20 minutes before the line started to move. It moved slowly but it was moving. I made it! Got through turn after turn to finally reach the other side of the room (near to where I had entered in the first place) and get the nod from security that there were still seats available. After leaving the football stadium sized room we entered a second room that may have been even slight larger. There were a few seats left in the very back rows and I was super glad I had brought my glasses. I picked a seat that had a clear view of the center of the stage and was not obstructed by any of the 3 rows of JumboTron televisions that had been set up for us poor shmoes in the back row so that we could still feel like we were part of the experience.

Finally, Ron Gilbert came out and gave one of the most brilliant key note speaches I had ever heard. He was completely connected with his audience and at the same time entertaining and relevant to everyone from the most knowledgeable gamer to the most neophite in the room. His powerpoint presentation was fabulous with just the right mix of pictures and key points. His pictures completely supported his presentation and his slides followed his talk beautifully.

I have been to a great number of conferences and listened to tons of key note speakers - some better than others. But some of those speakers use their slides to pull their presentation along. Ron Gilbert used his slides perfectly to provide a poignant and often comedic balance to his talk.

He talked about his background as a video game developer and where he thought the future of video game development was heading. He shared with passion his delight at developing a game and then having the gamer take that product and make it their own and turn it into something he had never even imaginged at the start.

Video game developers are really working to make better and more interesting games that will fully engage the player and provide them with an even more unique experience than they have ever had in the past.

When I was younger parents would worry about the impact of violence in movies and on television and they were concerned about how much TV we were watching. When my boys were younger (in the 90’s) parents would worry about their kids spending too much time playing video games.

And now parents worry about video games connected to the Internet where their kids can play with anyone in the world. We worry about the values and the violence being portrayed in the games. And we worry about our kids becoming good citizens in the virtual and real world.

But at least we don’t have to worry about them going to a video game conference.

PS If you have never heard of Ron Gilbert check him out online. He is a really interesting guy.

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