Packing and Gear

Whether you travel with just a carry-on or also check a bag or two, what types — and brands — of luggage do you travel with these days, and why? That was what we asked recently, with the following instructions. Describe the backpack, carry-on and/or suitcase with which you have been most satisfied. So that others can duplicate your purchase, give the brand name plus any identifying model or style name or number. If you purchased it recently, tell where you found it and approximately how much it cost.

I work for an airline in the baggage service office and would like to respond to the reader’s observations regarding lashing bags together to save on extra-bag fees (May ’10, pg. 16).

When two bags are secured together to form one piece of luggage, there is only one bag tag or claim check issued, resulting in only one of the bags having the bag tag attached to it.

To keep clothing smelling fresh on a long trip, place opened bars of soap throughout your suitcase or intersperse scented fabric-softener sheets throughout the clothing items.

My husband and I did a tour to Mali, Jan. 3-18, 2010. We used Air France because it was nonstop San Francisco-Paris and nonstop Paris-Bamako, Mali — as easy as it gets for such a long distance.

I went off on Sept. 22, 2009, with my new luggage, an Eagle Creek Tarmac 22, expecting the carry-on piece to stay with me throughout my trip to Edinburgh and England. I travel light and never check my bag.

On the very first flight, aboard a United Skywest Airlines plane, the overhead could not accommodate my carry-on. The crew had to remove my luggage and utilized their “à la carte” service, meaning the bag would be made available to me on the tarmac upon arrival. The very same thing happened on that same plane back to Medford on Oct. 8.

My husband, Ed, and I always have an ID on our suitcase carrying handle plus another luggage tag taped onto either the bag or on the pull-behind handle. Why two luggage tags? In case our luggage is lost and one tag has been pulled off, there is still another one to be read.

As we are leaving home, on each ID we put our name and the name and address of our first location abroad. We do not want our luggage going back to our house when we are in, say, Russia.

Some preplanning of what and how to pack may make travel more enjoyable. Here are some suggestions.

What do I carry on the airplane with me?

In October ’08 we found airports in Italy now requiring a one- or 2-euro piece to secure a cart to transport your luggage. When you return the cart, you get your money back.

I took the 16-day “Italian Masterpiece” tour with Cosmos, Sept. 29-Oct. 14, 2007. The trip began with two days in Venice, then the itinerary led us south to Rome, which we reached on Oct. 3. From there we continued back to Venice.