Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for April 12, 2013

Joan – “didn’d share” is the upside of it all. Wally won’t need a thing – free’s up even more cash for your purchases!!!

I’ll have to remember Wally’s idea next time I travel foreign.

But it means that Joan can still go shopping!

Isn’t Wally from Wisconsin? Badgers tend to plan for all eventualities.

Everyone who has ever lost luggage does that. Or had a layover with their bags still in Security.

who does NOT know in this day & age that you ALWAYS carry a change of underwear, your meds, toothbrush, (makeup for ladies) clean shirt, socks, copy of passport/id etc. in your carry on. The airlines WILL lose your luggage inevitably

I always do that, and I’m not Jewish. I suspect that is has more to do with his careful, methodical nature.

Joan, you’re a mother of two kids. Moms ALWAYS carry ‘Justincases’. It’s why their purses and tote-bags are so big.

I, on the other hand, am a Childfree. But even I have the good sense of prepping for an airline to lose my bags. I never put anything in a suitcase I won’t assume won’t be ‘lifted’ by the baggage-handlers. I keep my valuables or ’can’t do withouts’ with me in the carry-on.

This is all going to turn around. For the good. She goes shopping. And enjoys it. Yeah…..! This be a trip she willalways remember. :-)

And if the roles were reversed, would SHE share? And would HE accept?

I can get a week’s wardrobe, medicines, toiletries, and my hair products (including my own blow dryer) in my carry-on luggage. Then again, maybe I’m doing it wrong…I’ve only been a woman for about a year >.>

same thing happened our first trip to Morocco

Are you kidding? I frequently pack up to three days worth of clothes in carry-on, just in case…

I can’t believe that Joan – a mother of two LITTLE tykes – would not be used to having to take “extra” everything, could have packed a carryon and not thought of that!

So what did she put in her carry on? I thought that’s what carry ons are for.

Joan hasn’t been on vacation before obviously. Poor thing.

usually the airlines will give you an emergency toilet kit as a gesture of concern!!

I like living life on the edge. My carry-on is my purse and valuables. I figure everything else can be bought if necessary.

That IS why I no longer would ever choose to check anything. Last trip taken with my 4 children and their families (they had chosen Branson, MO as a rather central place to convene and a large group of condos to share. My luggage was only lost for one day, but then totally broken; I did not know about the later until it arrived but went shopping the night we arrived for a nightgown, toothbrush and paste (and the ONLY store in the little hick town was Walmart). In my carryon I carry mostly what I expect to need during the trip (slippers, a warm wrap, drinks, book and snacks as well as stuff that might get broken or stolen if checked. Even before we were limited to what goes in carry-on I had shipped things ahead to a hotel (and then to children’s homes and now to my lover’s home. I still had to check much of my carryon returning home (as I was in last group to board :-( so naturally they broke the wheels!

I enjoyed flying back in the day when I traveled for business, people dressed in business clothes (women in heels) and you could take anything onboard that you could carry! I always brought home any liquids (big bottles) from Mexico in a shopping bag WITH my carryon and once brought home (onboard) a statue 30" tall of uncured concrete which is still in my garden (I finished details and cured with sealants at home).

Even in those days things were not perfect – I was once importuned to let a very obese man overlap into a large part of my seat (as a very small woman that was easy, but very unpleasant).

..and how does one “copy” a passport? The government needs to know. As for lost luggage, my favorite part is that they will (when they find it) deliver it to your home or hotel, saving you a bit of hauling. Yes, big bags, easily hold all necessities, but take out the sharpies..

Go to Monoprix! It’s cheap, fun! They have everything you need for the moment! Get some Dim undies! Joan needs to realize how lucky she is; she’s in danger of becoming one of those awful American tourists who gets cranky because France isn’t America. Have fun, sweetie!

So do and some don’t.

SHOPPING!!!

Joan is so used to packing for the kids she forgets to/forgot how to pack for herself.

I can’t believe anyone flies without one day’s amenities (including a change of clothes) in their overnight bag.

Why on earth would anyone put money in their luggage?

That happened to my brother-in-law.

I seem to recall that Wally tried to convince her to pack everything she NEEDED in her carry-on, and she had a meltdown because she thought she needed 3 or 4 steamer trunks of clothes. Wally “shared” — she just wasn’t listening.