Packing

This was a great post from an AP on one of my other yahoo groups. With her permission, I am posting to share with all of you. Thanks Jennifer!!

"Hello Thought I would throw a post out there since it has been pretty quiet. Since our first adoption back in 2003 our family, of 3 soon to be 4, has become avid travelers and CCO'ers. (We had our Luggage lost in Germany once and it was a painful experience.) I have tried Compression bags from EMS, rolling clothing, Packmates, Cubes and everything else I could find to fit our travel needs. This is what I have settled on- Food Saver Bags and Packmates. This is our process – Everyone picks out 3 Full outfits and 2 extra tops, depending on what our destination is. I create paper labels specifying the outfit and who it is for. I then place in the one outfit and a tag in a Food Bag, lock it in the vacuum machine, place a heavy book on top of the bag and the air is sucked out. I end up with a brick the size of an encyclopedia, flat on both sides. (The really stack in the suitcase nice). Then I use some Duck tape to fold down the ends. Note: the duck tape can be reused on your trip for emergencies! Then we do the washing, in our room, and jelling rolling to speed up the drying process. By the end of the trip we decide what articles of clothing will not go home with us to make room for the treasures we purchased at our destination. The cloths that come back are placed in the empty Packmates, we brought along, and toted home.

This may not be for everyone but it has gotten us through 4 countries and a half a dozen trips to Disney World and Disneyland. We plan to use it for China

Jennifer Moyher
LID 9/05

Food Saver bags – it is a machine that comes with bags that you can suck the air out of. It is really made for food but I only use mine for Pre-Travel packing. You can find them in Wal-Mart , Target or other retailers in the houses wares area by the crock pots and toasters. The reason I like this is because I get a uniform end result, it gets all of the air out and the seal lasts. I also like packmates but they can be lumpy and do not pack as well, in my opinion only. We do use pack mates for the trip back home since the Food bags are only good for one way. Once you break the seal they are done until you get home and use them again for packing extra socks and such. As for Heavy- weather you use the Food Bags or Pack mates it does not change the weight of your items. It only makes it condensed. I like to pull the scale out from its hiding place and weigh my stuff. If it is over the limit in one then I redistribute to the other. I would recommend you trying a Space Saver bag for your next trip and see how you like it before you buy more. Please remember that packing can be a very personal thing. You do what makes you comfortable.

All of my clothing go in the Food Bags, Liquids went in a the regulation zip lock baggie, and the non liquid pills I placed in my med bag next to my clothing, it is not a food bag or anything fancy just the bottle it came in. For as much as I have traveled I have not had one issue with meds. I normaly take asprin and the cold strips but not much more than that for dry meds.

Jennifer Moyher

-:¦:- Stephe -:¦:-
http://www.giorgiadanette.blogspot.com

Bad News

To all travelers: Put all your valuables in your carry-on. Nothing is safe anymore!! You think your luggage is safe with fancy locks ?? WRONG!! This is going to make you nervous every time it's out of your sight and you won't even know if it's been opened until you look inside to see if anything is missing. So much for luggage locks....

Watch the video.

-:¦:- Stephe -:¦:-
http://www.giorgiadanette.blogspot.com

New Regs on Batteries

"On January 1, new TSA regulations went into effect regarding spare lithium batteries. The short version: lithium batteries MUST be carried on; if spares are not in their original packaging, they must be isolated from metal objects and other batteries (easiest option: pack each individually in a plastic bag). Check out further information here and here."

Effective January 1, 2008, the following rules apply to the spare lithium batteries you carry with you in case the battery in a device runs low:

Spare batteries are the batteries you carry separately from the devices they power. When batteries are installed in a device, they are not considered spare batteries.

You may not pack a spare lithium battery in your checked baggage

You may bring spare lithium batteries with you in carry-on baggage – see our spare battery tips and how-to sections to find out how to pack spare batteries safely!

Even though we recommend carrying your devices with you in carry-on baggage as well, if you must bring one in checked baggage, you may check it with the batteries installed.

The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours:

Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.

You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.

For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.

Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!

Examples of extended-life rechargeable lithium batteries (more than 8 but not more than 25 grams of equivalent lithium content):

-:¦:- Stephe -:¦:-
http://www.giorgiadanette.blogspot.com