Christmas in Florida

Every year I spend Christmas in Florida because that is why my parents currently reside. This year was especially busy because a lot of friends from middle and high school who are not always in town were going to be around, my best friend was getting married, and my new boy friend was going to be coming down to meet my parents for the first time.

So of course, with all this craziness, I lost my luggage for the first time ever. Now, I've never sat down and counted how many times I've flown. But I started flying by myself in the 7th grade and made yearly trips to Nebraska from then until I graduated high school. Then came college in Boston and more trips, and then traveling abroad and visiting friends all over the US. So I'd say about 40 plane trips, so maybe 100 flights. And no lost baggage, until this year. It wasn't even a short layover either, it was over an hour. Who knows.

But here are my tips so that you don't lose the important stuff or your mind.

Your carry on should always have:
phone chargers
money, gift certificates
important medicine
snacks
jewelry
anything not easily replaced
for overseas flights or flights where you aren't going home (and therefore don't have a stash of clean underwear at your destination) at least one change of clothes

You should also always know what your bag looks like, even if it's new. This includes the brand, how many exterior pockets it has, and any identifying marks. I've never been one to tie colored ribbon on my black bag because I can spot it from a mile away because I know it so well, but this trip I realized the ribbon isn't always for YOU, but for other people who don't know what their bag looks like. So the colored marker isn't admitting you're an idiot, it's admitting you don't quite trust everyone else either.

Thankfully my bag showed up the next morning still in STL, so it was put on the next flight to Orlando and arrived at my house by midafternoon. Phew. That was a close one.