In exactly one-month-and-a-half, I will, once again, embark on a journey which will take me half-way-across-the-world to the dearest people in the world to me, leaving most of the dearest belongings in the world to me behind sitting in my closet and on my bathroom counter. Thanks to the new regulations that seem to be getting more and more rigid every year I fly, airplane travel which I never really enjoyed to begin with, is becoming more and more of a nightmare.
I have been flying back-and-forth between the US and Turkey for the last 16 years. I have been on many different airlines, gotten on the wrong planes and landed in wrong cities, cried my eyes out and begged my way through many luggage size and weight restrictions, and managed to create reservations out of thin air which somehow landed me on a business class seat more than a couple of times. Yet, I find myself keeping awake at night thinking about how the heck I am going to fit all the stuff that I need to take with me in all of my allowed 50lbs now that they actually are too strict to budge, and I am too old to cry.
You maybe be thinking to yourself what the big deal is. I should just pack half the stuff I want to take with me and that should be fine. May I remind you that the last time I went home I was accompanied with three suitcases full of requests including ipods, iphones, several brands of clothing, plus one ferret cage? Every time I am going home, I am reminded of the MasterCard commercial; there are some things in life money can't buy, for everything else that are too damn expensive where you live, there is your friend half way across the world!
With all my three planned outfits a day plus shoes and purses and all the accessories that accompany the ensembles, I don't really have the room for hair, skin and other beauty products left in my suitcase. Here comes the carry on! According to the Transportation and Security Administration regulations, all liquids, gels and aerosols taken aboard a plane must be in three-ounce containers or smaller, and must fit inside a quart-size Ziploc bag.
That means good news for the makers of my favorite clear bag, but very bad news for the makers of half the product lines at Sephora.
I don't believe in small things. I like big cars, big apartments, big jewelry, big laughs, big meals, and naturally, big bottles of shampoo, perfume, skin care and make up. And when I am going away from a month, I like to think that I should be able to take all my bigness with me.
But, life doesn't always work out the way I told it to when I first embarked on it, so I will just have to buy some big bottles when I make it home. In the mean time, I guess I will have to get really creative in fitting as many three-once containers as I can into a quart-size Ziploc bag.
Next time, I will have gathered some tips for all of us. In the mean time, feel free to share yours please!
TillNextTime
The Fashionistique
Try a luggage shipping service. There was an article on CNN a few months ago about having luggage shipped. It is available for international travel as well.
