When I was 19, I learned the importance of proper travel luggage and why it’s not smart to use plastic bags from the grocery store as travel gear. What was supposed to be a dream vacation with my family quickly became a travel size nightmare.
In honor of my grandmother’s 80th birthday, my grandfather took our entire family to Hawaii. I should have known better than to tempt fate since our flight was scheduled for Friday the 13th, but I got lazy the night before and decided to not pack a suitcase.
It seemed every previous vacation had been a struggle for me to fit all my travel stuff in my ratty old carry-on luggage set that I think my dad got as a gift for helping liberate France. I figured I could just grab some plastic bags from our kitchen cupboard, throw a handful of clothes and toiletries into them and be set. I was in for a lesson.
When we got to the airport the next morning, my mom reacted in horror when she noticed me toting my motley collection of luggage into the terminal, looking like a lost hobo. She considered getting me one of the luggage sets right there at an airport gift shop before deciding it was better I learn a lesson. I did.
The lady at the check-in counter looked at me like I was some kind of redneck when I presented my would-be luggage. These were in the days before heavy airport security, though the standards of our particular airline said plastic bags weren’t approved carry-on luggage so I had to check my bags. That’s the last I’ve seen of them. To this day, for all I know, they went to the Great Conveyor Belt in the Sky.
I didn’t know this until we landed, though, so I didn’t stock up on the assortment of travel size products that any self-respecting airline boasts in abundance. Had I known, I would have asked for travel size bath body products or travel size shower essentials, maybe bartered part of my dinner for them with one of the first class passengers if I had to.
Instead, I made it through the week on the small travel essentials from our hotel bathroom. There was also the question of clothes. I was left literally with what I had on my back when my bags disappeared. We probably could have gone to a local clothing store, but I think my mom still wanted to teach me a lesson.
We went to the hotel gift shop, which only offered Hawaiian shirts. Nearly thirty years later, I still have more of them than I know what to do with.
