Adventure is a State of Mind
Checked Bags Versus Carry On
When you fly, do you check a bag or just use a carry on? This is a discussion that can sometimes create judgment or even become a little heated as to what is the “right” choice.
Because living in Kansas means almost never having a direct flight to anywhere, I personally like to check a bag most of the time so that I don’t have to schlep so much through the airports between connecting flights. I have, however, used only a carry on bag on a couple of occasions.
What is most important, in my opinion, is to think through which is the better option for yourself and the type of trip you are taking.
Similarly, it’s important to think through what items you should pack in your carry on. Now, if you’re someone who prefers to not check a bag, you might be saying to yourself, “This is easy. Everything goes in my carry on because that’s all I’ve got.” But even then, you need to be prepared to hang on to a few important items in case you and your bag are forced to separate. (More on that in a bit.)
Things to Always Carry On
Whether or not you choose to check a bag, there are some items that should never be placed in your checked luggage. This is because you both want easy access to them, and you want to be able to control them for security and safety reasons. The items are:
- Documentation
- Mobile phone
- Medication
- A change of clothing
- Entertainment
- Headphones or earbuds
- Power bank
- Valuables
- Hand sanitizer
- Comfort items
Let’s go through each of these and discuss them in more detail:
Documentation. When planning your trip, make sure you research what documents you need. If you are traveling internationally, this will include a passport and may also include a visa. If you want to be allowed into a country, you absolutely need to have your passport with you as you go through passport control. (Your checked luggage might or might not be with you at that time.)
Documentation can also include paper copies of tickets, confirmation numbers, and phone numbers and addresses of places where you’ll be staying. Yes, I know most of us keep those on our smartphones these days, but if you don’t have good cell service, there is a cell outage (yes, it’s happened), or if your battery goes dead, you’ll be glad you have back ups. And speaking of phones…
Mobile phone. Anymore, this has become one of the most important devices we travel with. In addition to using it to communicate with travel companions you may be trying to meet up with, confirming lodging, taking pictures, and having electronic tickets for everything from trains to museums, it also has become the primary map most of us use via GPS and online maps.
Most of us would literally be lost if we packed our phone in our checked luggage and it did not arrive with us.
Medication. It is an unfortunate fact of life that checked luggage sometimes goes on its own, independent travel adventure. If your bags don’t arrive with you, it can sometimes be days before they catch up to you. For this reason, you don’t want to think, “Oh, I’ll just bring my medication for the day and pack the rest.” Keep all of it (or at least several days’ worth) with you in your carry on so you don’t miss any doses.
A change of clothing. Again, sometimes checked luggage doesn’t arrive when you do. If you don’t mind wearing the exact same outfit for the first few days of your trip, regardless of the weather, maybe having an entire outfit in your carry on isn’t necessary, but consider at least bringing a change of underwear.
Entertainment. You may love watching movies on a plane. I completely get that. That’s often when I catch up on new movies that I’ve wanted to see but haven’t gotten around to yet. Like anything electronic, however, there are occasions when the plane’s entertainment system is on the blink. I’ve been on one flight when that happened, and there were definitely some very bored passengers who had counted on those movies to make the time go faster. In such a situation, having something to read or a deck of cards can make for a much more enjoyable flight.
Headphones or earbuds. This is a packing maybe, depending on the type of in-flight entertainment you prefer. Obviously if your preferred entertainment is low-tech, such as reading a book, you can skip this one.
If you like to listen to music or watch movies on your electronic devices, you’ll want to have headphones to both drown out some of the airplane noise and to avoid annoying your seatmates. Some airlines today have even made it a policy that any entertainment with sound must be played through headphones only to avoid unwanted noises disrupting fellow passengers.
If you plan to use the movie or music options offered by the airline, do a little research ahead of time to find out whether they have an app you need to download ahead of time or they provide seatback screens. If it is the latter, some airlines have the capability of connecting with your headphone via Bluetooth, but some still use a 3.5mm headphone jack. (You know, those old-fashioned round jacks that every device used to have.) The airlines using 3.5mm jacks usually hand out cheap headsets (with the expected poor sound quality). Another option is, before your trip, buy a jack to Bluetooth transmitter.
Power bank. Since phones are essential tools for most of us (see above), and even much of our entertainment (also see above), it is important to carry a portable power bank so you can charge your phone or other devices, such as tablets and headphones.
Most airline seats have USB ports you can also use, but some older planes do not. If your power bank is in your checked luggage, it won’t do you much good during that seven-hour, trans-Atlantic flight.
It is better to travel well than to arrive.
Attributed to the Buddha
Valuables. This can mean cash, jewelry, or anything that is valuable or irreplaceable to you. For example, if you would feel gutted if you lost the cardigan your grandmother knitted for you, put it in your carry on.
We all like to imagine once we put them on the conveyor belt, our checked bags stay intact until we next see them popping out onto the luggage carousel. The reality, however, is that some of them will be opened behind the scenes by TSA officers. All in all, those individuals do an amazing job of checking our bags for dangerous items and getting everything put back in place… but not always.
I once flew to Phoenix, Arizona, and when I got to my hotel, I opened up my bag to find a library book. Mind you, I don’t travel with library books. (I’m always worried I might lose them!) So it wasn’t my library book. It wasn’t even from a library in my town… or state. Luckily, when I returned home, the very nice librarians at my local library said they could return it through the inter-library loan system to the Missouri library from which it originated. What I kept imagining was the poor person who had checked out that book and couldn’t find it when they opened their checked luggage! And the experience highlighted that you can’t control something that is not with you.
Hand sanitizer. Long before the Covid epidemic, many frequent fliers brought hand sanitizer gel or sanitizing wipes with them when they flew, including me. Planes often make quick turnarounds between flights, which means surfaces like the armrests and tray tables may not have been cleaned after the previous flight.
You don’t know who was sitting in your seat before you and whether they might have been coming down with a cold or other virus. None of us can guarantee that we won’t catch a bug when we travel, but why not try to improve your odds of staying healthy?
Comfort items. This is different for everyone, so think through what will make flying a less stressful and more comfortable experience for you.
Are you someone who gets “hangry” if you’re late getting a meal? Then make sure to bring snacks. Are you cold blooded? Bring a sweater or jacket. Are you on an overnight flight? Bring a neck pillow and/or eye mask.
Because flying tends to be a very drying experience, I usually bring lotion, lip balm, and a reusable water bottle. If your comfort items are similar (and if you’re bringing hand sanitizer), just make sure that you follow the carry on liquid rule – you can bring one clear, quart-sized plastic bag with travel-sized bottles (3.5 ounces or less) – and fill your water bottle after you go through security.
And while we’re discussing plastic bags – I often use them to keep my carry on bag organized. In addition to the liquids I’m bringing, I use resealable plastic bags to keep small items, like charging cords, together. (And to keep them from playing hide-and-seek in the bottom of my backpack!) I also use them to store medications and snacks, and to hold my extra pair of underwear and socks.
If You and Your Bag Are Forced to Part
Many people think having a carry on bag means that you can always keep it under your seat or in an overhead bin near you. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. If the plane has limited overhead storage or is completely booked and anticipating more items than they have places to put them, they will often request people to volunteer to check their carry on bags at the gate. Sometimes if there are not enough volunteers, they can require some or all passengers to check their carry ons.
If this happens, you need to immediately remove some of the items to keep with you. If you’re on an international flight, the most crucial of these is your passport. If your carry on bag is checked, you very likely will not see it again until after you go through passport control. This would create a huge problem for you since you need your passport to get through immigration.
The other items you might want to remove will depend on what is important to help you get through the flight or what is most crucial for you to have at the end of your flight, even if your bags do not arrive. (This will probably not be an issue if you are on a direct flight but could be a possibility if you have a connecting flight, which is an opportunity for bags to get lost.) This likely will include your phone, but it could also include paperwork with information about your lodging or tickets you need for an activity shortly after you arrive.
As with so many parts of travel planning, thinking through our choices ahead of time can help us to make better decisions. What do you want to pack in your carry on? And do you have a plan for what you will keep with you if you are required to check your bag at the gate?
