Heathrow heck part two - and hope ahead

In an article about a new Heathrow terminal which will open in 2008, the Times of London correspondent quips:

“Heathrow has been a Third-World experience, pretty gruelling all round. But Terminal 5? When it opens next March Bartlett can hereby confirm that you will not, repeat not, be treated like cattle. What, no cramped queue lines to herd behind? No ceilings so low they scrape your pate? No more shovelling us through with cattle-prods?”

In the meantime, just grin and say “moo”…. Seriously, this is a fine, honest article about the challenges of building a modern airport.

Seven reasons to go one-bag

From Brave New Traveler - “And it was the best decision we could have ever made.”

"tiny, doll-size suitcase" not for her

This Washington Post piece is a peek inside the mind of a confessed overpacker. I understand, in some ways. In my photojournalist days I carried more gear than anyone. If I needed one of anything, I carried two. Of course that meant I really needed two so I carried three… But even in those days, after a couple of unscheduled overnight trips with essentially no luggage - I found out how little I could get by with clothingwise. Thankfully my camera gear weighs about a pound these days instead of 35 or 40.

Weighty matters of legwear

Paring down the weight and bulk of the travel wardrobe is what going light is all about, and it’s achieved not just by carrying fewer pieces of clothing. The clothing chosen needs to weigh less than our everyday duds. Pants - men’s or women’s - are a great place to start. Case in point: A pair of cotton denim jeans in my size weighs 28 ounces, a pair of cotton khakis weighs 18 ounces, and a pair of polyester summer-weight slacks comes in at 12 ounces - that’s 42% as heavy as the jeans. And, the polys will dry overnight; the jeans might never dry in some climates. Obviously, to go light, the place to start is below the belt.

International liquidity

This page from the U.S. Transportation Security Administration lists those countries with 3-1-1 carry-on liquid rules for air travel. The list is long and growing. The Washington Post travel blog reports that Hong Kong has joined the list. Banning liquids is less common in Asia - only Japan and South Korea did so previously. The entire EU is on board with the liquid ban.

 More about 3-1-1 here.

$10 flights...really

That sandwich at the airport bar may cost more than your next flight. Skybus has non-stop flights between several US cities for as little as $10. Checking two bags (@ $5 each) can double the cost of your flight!  This carrier is made for the light traveler: You get one carryon up to 22 pounds plus the standard personal item. Read more here from the IHT.

Perfect storm

The light traveler who has resolved NEVER to check a bag faces a stiff challenge in the UK. Let’s say you fly to London, drive to Scotland, then take a short hop on low-cost carrier BMI back to London or over to Europe. Guess what the carryon rule is for British Midland if flying coach? Try 7kg/15 pounds (6kg if flying out of Manchester), and the stated rules say you get only ONE piece and NO personal item - your personal item must fit in the carryon.Your 20-pound carryon PLUS your six-pound messenger/camera/briefcase bag that you flew over the pond with are no longer allowed. According to this the Brits enforce this rule rather stringently.

This changes everything for the light traveler. And this is the trend: Lower weight and piece limits for all baggage, more fees for checked bags, and higher overweight penalties. Add to this the 3-1-1 liquid rule and you have a perfect storm for the light traveler. And don’f forget - there are others who want ban luggage altogether!

Bumping and bag loss

This story says bumping, delays, and bag loss - the markers of air travel quality - are getting worse for US air travelers.

A discouraging quote (and another reason to go light/one-bag):

“We’re going to see more delays and those delays translate to cancellations, mishandled bags and unhappy passengers,” said Castelveter, spokesman for the Air Transport Association, a trade group for the major U.S. carriers. “It’s not a pretty picture.”

And the trend is towards extra baggage charges:

‘The increase in lost bags comes as at least one domestic carrier - Spirit Airlines - plans a new fee for passengers who check their bags. Come June, Spirit will charge $5 each for one or two checked bags if the ticket was booked online and $10 each for passengers who do not book online.

(Dean) Headley said he did not think the idea will fly with consumers who long have expected their ticket prices to include a checked bag or two.

“It will set off an absolute atomic bomb,” he said.

Heathrow heck

Switchover to a new control tower is causing major delays at Heathrow. Ah, Heathrow. You haven’t lived ‘til you’ve run a couple miles through its concourses. My son left his passport in the hotel in east London, and we realized it about an hour before our departing flight. That little experience convinced me to shave about ten pounds off my bag.

Extra towels, please - travel laundry

If you’re doing in-room sinkwashing you’ll need extra towels. Ask for them when you check in to the hotel so you’ll be sure to have them when laundry time rolls around. Some clothing will dry overnight easliy. Other clothing items need extra help. That’s where the towels come in. After rinsing your sink laundry and squeezing it out gently, lay it out on the the extra bath towel, then roll it up in the towel, then unroll it and hang it up. With all the moisture the towel soaks up, air drying overnight is a cinch. And no more puddles next to the bathtub. Your clothes may also dry more wrinkle-free since using the towel means you don’t have to wring them out so brutally, which probably also makes the clothes last longer. I like to pack a couple of plastic hangers in addition to a bungee clothesline - more space efficient and makes shirts dry with better shape/fewer wrinkles.

Gift idea for travelers/hipsters

Dave Scrimshaw’s hipster travel kit- of which duct tape is a major component (see below).

Duct tape travel hack

Duct tape can save your bag or your trip. This is no original idea, but still - don’t leave home without it. I do have a better variety of tape for you though. Scotch Heavy Duty All-Weather Duct Tape is amazing stuff. You can find it at hardware stores or home centers. It really is waterproof and will stick outdoors to nearly anything through any weather - for months. It can probably handle your ripped suitcase or broken pull-handle. I re-wrap about six feet of it around an empty plastic bottle, then cut the ends out of the bottle to make a flexible, flattenable core.

One cool thing - it’s a darker gray than regular duct tape, doesn’t look quite so much like, well, duct tape.

Fine stuff from Flinn plus light travel for women

Here’s a tremendous 2006 light travel article from the San Francisco Chronicle’s John Flinn. He’s obviously influenced by Rick Steves and onebag.com’s Doug Dyment - but hey, who isn’t. Be sure to check the sidebars on what he packs, luggage,  and women’s travel needs.

Actually the article on light travel for women is written by Christine Delsol. Check out this doozy from her:

”Women bear more than their share of responsibility for the proliferation of overweight, wheeled luggage clogging the world’s airports and sidewalks. After 40 years of travel, even an old-line feminist like me has to chime in with Professor Higgins on this one: “Why can’t a woman be more like a man?”

The first thing most women need to pack is a change of priorities. Repeat after me: I’m OK, you’re OK, and it’s OK to wear the same thing two or three times in the same week…”

Gee, a man couldn’t get away with saying that, so I didn’t. Actually, I would say light travel can be just as easy for women since most have already mastered some of the needed skills that men struggle with: They are comfortable with sinkwashing, are good at assessing fabrics, know how to put an outfit together. And, women are usually just plain resourceful. 

Cartload of cabin cartography

Here’s a list of seat maps for nearly every airline in the world from about.com. And if that’s not enough, check out seatguru.com which, in addition to even more seat maps, has travel-geeky things like noise-canceling headphone reviews.

Advice from Ubertramp

“Be a One Bag Wonder – Travel light, travel happy. Cut down on your belongings and life will become so much simpler. Firstly, it makes the mechanics of getting from A to B easier and less stressful. Easier because it’s less weight to be humping around between transport and accommodation and also less size and weight to be swinging around within the confines of a densely populated bus. It becomes less stressful because the smaller your luggage is, the less likely it is that you will be separated from it during journeys– and, judging everybody else by my own pitifully low standards, the less there is of it to forget or lose! In addition, it’s more likely you will be let on an already packed out bus if you have less baggage. This doesn’t ring true in Guatemala however, as you can always fit one more person on the bus, no matter how full it already is.” — ubertramp.com

$7 billion for bag zappers

The U.S. House and Senate have approved $7 BILLION worth of new airport security equipment which will make the screening  of checked bags almost completely automated according to USA Today. 

‘Key to the new system are bomb-detection machines built onto conveyor belts that can screen luggage 10 times faster than current systems that scan luggage piece by piece. The older machines are being strained by the 1.5 million bags checked each day at U.S. airports.

Louis Miller, executive director of Tampa International Airport, called the funding “extremely important.”

“We can go a long way in a hurry with that kind of money,” he said.’

Knee Defender, Save Me!

You may decline your right to recline after reading veteran flight attendant James Wysong’s column - lest you fall victim to a curious contraption called the “Knee Defender”.

Carrying on...lightly

Carry-on weight limits for major US airlines usually top out at 40 pounds or more, but my definition of light travel does not include a bag that weighs as much as an elementary school student. Because you can carry on 40 pounds doesn’t mean you should. Lifting 40 pounds over your head (or dropping it on your fellow passenger’s head) is no fun. The light traveler should shoot for a packed carryon that slips under the more restrictive weight limits of smaller airlines and international carriers - around 22 pounds. Under 20 pounds will get you comfortably on to almost any plane, and your back, neck, and shoulders will thank you. Get it to 11 pounds (5kg) or under and you’ve passed from lightness to sublimity. And there will be hardly an airline on the planet that will turn your carryon away.

The power of the sport coat

The most powerful piece of clothing in the male traveler’s wardrobe is a good sport coat. This doesn’t apply to 20-something hostel-stayers and backpackers, but for most men, in most parts fo the world, a nice coat is a real plus. In Europe, where standards of appearance are often higher than in shorts-and-flipflops America, the sports jacket may ensure higher regard and better treatment for the wearer. It will get you in most restaurants, art galleries, and churches with no discomfort. A well-chosen coat can also double as a raincoat and provides a hedge against rapidly changing weather. There’s a reason why so many gentleman dress the way they do in the UK; they simply cannot trust the weather. And they like to look good.

Baggage blues

Here’s an overview of international baggage rules for international air travel from the worldly perspective of the International Herald Tribune’s Roger Collis. Judging from trends described in this story, traveling light is becoming more of a necessity than an option.