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”.

or at least a cheap knock-off.

Aloha Alfred.

NEWS

Some cities are easy to figure out. And others are not. I do not own a GPS but I do have a compass in my car and I do have a fairly good sense of direction. So, the other day I set out with my daughter in the car after a lovely tea party in the DC suburb of Arlington Virginia. We decided we would take a quick side trip through Georgetown and Georgetown University. It is just across the bridge and right next to the downtown area of Washington DC.

So, we set off with our map, plenty of time and a sense of humor. Little did we know that we would need all three.

We drove across the bridge into downtown Georgetown and I could immediately see the appeal. It is very quaint. It was also very crowded. All the darling stores were decorated for the holidays and shoppers were out in droves. Every parking spot was filled and there was a major cluster of activity. Besides that one of the streets was closed down with some kind of street fair. It was charming, lovely, busy and just a little bit too much of a cluster for us to find a quick parking spot and get out to walk around. Besides that our plan was just to drive through and get the feel for the area so we could come back on a day when it wasn’t so crowded. ( If there ever is such a time in Georgetown ). I was having a little bit of a flash back because most of the people walking up and down the streets were dressed in a style right out of the preppy handbook published in 1980 something.

We kept driving and found our way shortly in to the downtown area of DC. I began to recognize some of the streets and we drove by the whitehouse but all of sudden we found ourselves trapped in a traffic circle. I wasn’t even quite sure how we got stuck in this roundabout but on the second time around we started getting the giggles and decided that sinces we didn’t recognize any of the streets on the first time around ( or on the second that we would just take the first road we could get to.

Finally we were out of the traffic circle and on a road that was as tightly packed as in Georgetown. And somehow the lane we were in went absolutely no where. It just ended. With no designated lane or merge sign to assist us. We did know we had to drive forward. Again this led to a pretty good laugh.

With out of state plates and clear confusion we waited at the next light. I saw some motion out of the corner of my eye and I looked at the car next to us. The lady was motioning for us to roll down our window. I thought that maybe one of my tail lights had been busted or maybe we had a coat hanging out of one of the closed doors. But instead she asked us if we knew the way to the spy museum. What? Us? We were polite but it was hard not to really break out laughing. We didn’t even know our way out of the traffic circle.

We checked our map and we were on a good road so we kept going until we wound up at the University of Maryland ( also a lovely campus ). From UM it is an easy jaunt up to the Beltway which leads to every main highway out of DC and I knew my way from there.

But I was definitely glad that we had a map, some time, and had a sense of humor.

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