Airports get me excited. If I’m at one it usually means I’m going on vacation, but there are two things that make airports a hassle:
1) Going through the security lines and
2) Praying that your luggage is not lost at your destination.
*Of course delayed or cancelled flights is the biggest bummer of all.
I am a seasoned traveler. I have traveled throughout North America, most of Europe, Africa and Australia. Because of my experiences I will share some tips to make traveling easier!
Since TSA security lines are a pain these days, I bit the bullet: got finger-printed, interviewed, shelled out a $100 clams and got myself a United States Global Entry card. This card is good for five years and lets you enter the “shortest” security line and allows you to go through the x-ray scanners without taking off your shoes, belt, etc. Also with this card, when coming back through United States Customs, you by-pass the long lines and zip through customs. I think it’s worth it, especially if you amortize it over the five years it is good for. You can definitely rationalize it.
I have had my luggage lost. I had a half an hour connection in Germany then to my final destination: Venice, Italy. As everyone grabbed his or her luggage off the baggage carousel, I just stood there watching the damn thing go round and round without my suitcase on it. Great! Now you have to find the tiny office that is for lost 
luggage and try to communicate to an overworked, crabby airline employee (English is most definitely not their first language) that your bag, that looks like a million of other pieces of luggage, did not come through. You are exhausted after a long flight and all you want to do is get your suitcase and head to your hotel. So you give your name and the name of the hotel that you are staying in and pray that your suitcase gets delivered. Soon! Please?
Well, I spent 3 days sightseeing my way through Venice, wearing my airplane attire, which consisted of black yoga pants with a matching track jacket, white tank top and sneakers. UGH! At the end of day 3 I was ecstatic to hear from the front desk of the hotel that my suitcase was delivered.
Soooo, now when I pack, I put an extra outfit of mine into my husband’s suitcase, some sort of staple such as: black pants, a pair of clean panties, and a neutral top. He then puts one of his outfits in my suitcase, thus lessening the odds that if God forbid, one of our suitcases is lost, we will at least have a fresh, clean outfit that we can wear.
I also pack my essential makeup and medicines in my backpack that I carry on to the plane. I do pack a charger for my cell phone, a converter adapter for the country/countries I will be traveling in and a World-wide Voltage curling iron. At least I’ll have good hair and makeup on when I’m on my charged cell phone yelling at the overworked, crabby, English is his second language airline employee as to where my luggage is!
