Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I have baggage, and it's in my carry-on

Every time I fly, I'm worried about my carry-on baggage -- specifically, what's inside it. All these over-the-top precautions on what can -- and can't be -- taken on the plane have gotten to me, especially because we fly Ryanair, and if you check a bag, you pay €10 to check it (limit of 15kg). We almost always fly with carry-ons only.

This year, we've had several close calls with security. Damon packed a Swiss Army Knife gift in his carry-on -- in his carry-on!!! -- on our way back from Switzerland. This wasn't too long after he'd packed my gigantic bottles of hairspray and mousse in Greece in ... his carry-on. The rule is no knives and no toiletries over 100ml -- stick with me here, honey! After much maneuvering and playing dumb, we actually got through security both times without coughing up our goods. (I keep on forgetting to remind him about the restrictions when we're standing in line at check-in.) I did, however, have to give up 150ml-tube of hair gel, which was only half-full, in Italy. Security didn't care if I was carrying only 75ml of gel; the container was 150ml in size. Whatever.

Disposable razors are my latest obsession. Ryanair's web site says that "...disposable razors with blades enclosed in cartridge..." are allowed. But is my cartridge too small or too big, just like my hair gel tube? I keep hiding the razor behind metal objects, such as my hairbrush, before I pass through security. The last thing I want is to lose my Personal Touch razor at the Dublin airport and spend an entire vacation with hairy legs. (Buying a new razor would be out of the question -- don't even let me get started on the price of razors in Ireland. Just look at my post on buying contact lenses solution.)

If my razor gets confiscated, I might go off the deep end. The only two women in the world who could high jack an airplane with a Personal Touch clutched in hand would be Lara Croft Tomb Raider and maybe Trinity from "The Matrix."

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"I have baggage and it's in my carry on". UM...so you have baggage in...your baggage?

Brilliant. Bwahahaha!