Comments on: Unexpected Luggage

By: cool dad

cool dad — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:34:33 +0000

During our first trip to Italy, we wanted to bring something back for the friends back home. We picked up some cheese from a farmer’s market with 2-3 days left on our trip.

We hauled that cheese through Rome and the various airports back to Florida. I think we broke various customs regulations doing that. I didn’t make a huge effort to hide it b/c I thought it was OK. Later, I learned that transporting food out-of-country is a big no-no.

The cheese was yummy.

By: Jodie (Rexette98)

Jodie (Rexette98) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 04:20:31 +0000

We did mission trips to Mexico for several years building churches. So needless to say, I have carried a hammer, hand saw, crowbar, screwdrivers, etc in my luggage. I can say that every time one of us was selected for a random search it always took a bit of explaining but we always made it through (pre 9/11)!

By: Kelly

Kelly — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 00:23:17 +0000

Interesting…thinking but have not come with anything yet.

By: TJ Conwell

TJ Conwell — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 02:20:32 +0000

“That ….. Was ….. Awwwwsome!!” – Tommy Boy

HA HA HA

Weirdest thing I have packed …. hmmm, does grabbing the wrong deodorant count? Yeah, I’ll go with that.

By: @austinklee

@austinklee — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:35:06 +0000

I worked in Daytona Beach, FL the Summer after my sophomore year in college. We grilled out a lot that summer and so I bought a pretty nice steak knife.

I flew home from that trip on August 4, 2001, with a really sharp and really long steak knife in my carry on bag. No one said a word as it went through the scanner.

Just a month later…we all know what happened.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:11:58 +0000

OK, not my story exactly, but it’s my brother-in-law’s, and he actually shares a name with me, so it’s almost the same, right?

travelling froma trade show Frankfurt (I believe) Germany. The scenario is that his co-worker left the show a couple days early, but of course left behind the “oops bag” of assorted cables, connectors, adapters… anybody who does techie things will know exactly what I’m talking about … Now, the co-worker was the last guy to actually USE the bag, and thus it was left packed after he left.

Another thing to understand about my brother in law is that he is the sort of guy who is always 100% honest and truthful. For example, he once wrote a check, which cleared the bank for 2 cents less than he wrote it for. He went to the bank and they basically said “it’s only 2 cents, the merchant has accepted it”, he replied “MY INTEGRITY is worth more than 2 cents”

So, what’s the first question the security guy at the airport asks (now they ask at the ticket counter when you check your bag)? “Did you pack your own bags?”

“Um, no. My co-worker did.”

Now, at this point, most of us would just leave it at that and not worry about it. But not my brother in law. He HAD to add “… And I’d be really bummed if he put a bomb in it!” Today, he probably wouldn’t fly, but before 9/11 it wasn’t quite as bad. He DID make his flight, but he spent a couple of hours going through not just that back, but pretty much the entire trade show demo package.

My own personal worst story was after going with a band on a tour to Croatia, the local opening act gave us all tapes. Back then, the second question asked was “Has anyone given you anything?” “Um, yeah, I got this cassette tape” You could literally see the alarm bells going off in the guys head. so I added “It’s pretty good, do you want to hear it?” Which promptly diffused the whole situation.

By: Shellie (baylormum)

Shellie (baylormum) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:58:05 +0000

Back nearly 20 years ago, my parents gave the 3 kids & families a trip to DisneyWorld for Christmas. We stayed in one of the motels with kitchenettes. To save money my mother made us haul a suitcase (way over 50 pounds) full of food. Glad it didn’t have to go through today’s adventures. Funny thing was when we got to the motel you had to “rent” the plates, silverware, and cooking utensils. No can opener. Nothing but a microwave. Not fun with 2 5 year olds & a 2 year old. They were hungry!

By: dew

dew — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:18:59 +0000

That’s awesome and sad all at the same time! Hmmm…I wonder if the dog had a GPS chip?? Now that would be interesting!

By: Joe Grant Gage

Joe Grant Gage — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:46:43 +0000

Traveled with a micrometer (a mechanical device that measures the thickness of things to 0.001″) in my carry on baggage. I was carrying the instrument to visit a customer who had some quality complaints concerning thickness control on some of my product. It was also carried in a small leather holster that you would attach to your belt so it would be handy while working. Sooo in the x-ray machine it looked pretty suspicious. Let’s just say the folks at the Little Rock Airport were pretty confused. They didn’t freak out or anything, but I spent a good twenty minutes giving them an impromptu lesson about thickness measurement techniques and how to read the vernier scale on the devices spindle. Good thing I make it a habit of being about two hours early for my flights. (I’m also thankful that this happened PRE 9/11.)

By: CKnell

CKnell — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:59:56 +0000

When I was visiting my brother in Latvia a few years back, we bought some smoked fish from a food stand. Not able to eat it all then, I packed it in my carry-on for my travel home to eat later. When I arrived in London later that night, the inside of my carry-on (and everything in it) smelled like smoked fish. To say the least, it didn’t travel any farther than London.