"Unpacking Baggage" from Never Travel in a Straight Line

“All of us, when we travel, look at the places we go, the things we see, through

different eyes. And how we see them is shaped by our previous lives, the books

we’ve read, the films we’ve seen, the baggage we carry.”

Excerpt From: Anthony Bourdain. “World Travel.”

I write about what I see, my experiences, my observations.

For most of my traveling life, I rarely checked luggage under the plane. As an airline employee, I was never 100% certain that I would board any specific flight. There could be a different flight cancellation where others were moved to my flight, taking my seat. Maybe the plane was carrying extra cargo, so had to reduce the number of passengers.

Sometimes, headwinds necessitated reducing plane weight. Quite a few times I was asked to deplane, with my luggage. And, conversely, since I didn’t have checked baggage, I could jump into the last seat at the last minute. Even when interviewing for my position at the airline, I was held at the airport for three days on my return waiting for an opening to board (it was spring break). In times of uncertainly, checked baggage definitely adds levels of complexity.

Here’s what I’ve learned in millions of miles of flying over thousands of

flights about people's baggage:

• Some people have more baggage than others.
• Some people don’t seem to have baggage.
• People carry more baggage than they need. It seemed.
• Some people inherited their baggage.
• Some folks have the entire collection while others have a mishmash of baggage. Disjointed.
• Some people have ratty luggage that’s been around the world a few times.
• I’ve seen heavy baggage although nowadays you can’t really tell with the new versions of boutique metal bags.
• In the old days, travelers had trunks. Or nothing.
• Some folks have luxury luggage. They are proud of it, they’ve spent a lot of money on it. 
• Some people pay to take extra baggage. A lot extra.
• Unfortunately, some people’s baggage gets lost, or stolen, definitely broken into. I feel bad for them, standing in long lines, lost, wondering what to do.
• Certainly, some baggage is for long hauling.
• Some baggage seems to be recurring, carried over and over. You see it wherever you go.
• Some people have strong baggage. Nothing will break it. Indestructible. Made to withstand anyone else’s baggage, or from getting tossed around.

Paul Theroux dedicates an entire chapter, The Things They Carried, in The Tao

of Travel, as to what people carry as baggage. He retells his meeting of a

Buddhist Monk whose entire baggage was a square cloth fashioned into a bag.

On Theroux’s travels from Cairo to Capetown in Dark Star Safari, he writes

about buying second-hand clothes so he doesn’t stand out as a tourist. No

doubt, there was hardly any baggage involved.

After the airline job, I learned to pack what I needed and carried it aboard

with me. This became an exercise in speed. Not dealing with the ticket

counter before my flight nor with waiting for luggage upon arrival. On arrival,

this could be thirty to forty five minutes at times. Since most of my travel was

a day or two, carrying my luggage aboard was faster. Get to the airport, go

through security, stow my bag, get off, get a cab or car, go.

On multi-leg and multi-hemispheric travel, sometimes a carry-on won’t do

it. On this trip, I had the following two-week itinerary:

1. Los Angeles, California
2. Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas
3. Mexico City, Mexico
4. Santiago, Chile
5. Easter Island, Chile [Fathers Day with my son]
6. Auckland, New Zealand
7. Sydney, NSW Australia
8. Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia [Meetings]
9. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [Meetings]
10. Hong Kong [Meetings]
11. Auckland, New Zealand
12. Santiago, Chile
13. Los Angeles, California

Since it was June, it is hot north of the equator, and cold south. So, I needed extra clothes, and clothes for both climates. Without being overly complex, by traveling via Chile, my entire ticket cost was 50% less and in business class. And, I could add Easter Island, in business class, for $200.

I was strategic since I had such a diverse itinerary (even for me). I packed half

of my stuff in a carry-on and the other half to be checked. Half of my cold

weather clothes, half of my warm weather clothes, half of my under clothes,

half of my socks, and one pair of shoes in each. Extra liquids in the checked

bag.

The bag I checked underneath to Easter Island went to Tahiti which

unfortunately, was not on my itinerary. By the time we cleared customs and

got to the luggage belt, the thrice weekly Boeing 787 was gone. With my bag.

Feeling good about what I did have packed, I filled out the triplicate lost-baggage

form after being assured that it would be on my return flight, which

was coming back from Tahiti the next day. Except, it wasn’t. My bag stayed in

Tahiti.

I returned to the airport with lost baggage forms in hand the next day. The baggage representative was friendly, although unable to help. They had just confirmed that my bag was still in Tahiti. The best solution was that they could send it to me on my journey. This seemed worse since I did not understand how six airlines would keep track of my baggage around the Pacific Rim.

I was told that my bag would be held in Santiago and returned to me in Los Angeles on my return 10 days later. I boarded my connection to Auckland and on to Sydney. About half way over the Pacific a passenger died and the plane turned around to return to Santiago (they hadn’t crossed the date line, or something like that so had to return). When we arrived, we were told to join the next flight in 36 hours.

Waiting 36 hours wasn’t going to work for me. Instead, I cashed in my ticket

for a non-stop flight to Sydney on another airline that was leaving in six

hours. I got a hotel room, showered, napped and made it back to the airport

with just my carry-on. Had I had checked baggage, this scenario would have

been a major problem since they would have held my baggage for the next

‘normal’ flight.

As frequent travelers know, schedules change. On my return, I was delayed in

Hong Kong, missed my flight to Auckland, waited a day, but the thrice weekly

flight from Auckland to Santiago would not be there for 2 more days. By this

point, I realized I didn’t need what was in my baggage after all.

In Auckland the next day, they put me on a non-stop flight back to Los

Angeles, I skipped Santiago (which, by the way is a world favorite city for

me). The airline representative reassured me they would send my luggage

from Santiago to my house in California. “I have it right here by my side,” I was

told. It was old baggage. I no longer needed it, nor the things inside.

I got home and my baggage showed up a few days later. It had been opened a

few times, as evidenced by notes from various inspection stations. But,

everything was there. For me, it was freeing not to worry about it while I was

traveling. I managed through the lost bag experience and traveled much lighter.

Throughout my trip, I fought with what I brought versus what I missing in my

baggage. As I pondered my experience, I realized that being held back by

baggage is not a good thing. While it turned out OK, I realized what this baggage issue was doing to me.

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.”

Jack Kerouac, On the Road (1958) from The Tao of Travel, Paul Theroux

In the annals of human endeavors, few feats rival the noble pursuit of stuffing one's trip into carry-on baggage. These people and issues include The Packing Procrastinator, Forgotten Toiletries, The Gate Gauntlet & Lurker, The Myth of Space, The Battle of the Overhead Bin, Can You Please Hold My Coffee, The Oversized Snack, and The Arrival Show.

This chapter is about what slows us down. Misunderstanding the rules and expectations, incorrect assumptions, unpreparedness, and hanging on to problems too long. How we react (not great) or respond (better) to our baggage challenges helps us move forward. 

Recognizing, managing, and letting go of the baggage challenges that slow us down leads to increased speed, greater clarity, lighter burdens, and more authentic experiences—also, peace of mind.

Image 1: William Warby on Unsplash

Image 2: Caroline Selfors on Unsplash