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Have bag will travel!

4:04pm Tuesday 8th April 2008

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By Nicola Priest »

I HAD the pleasure of flying to Heathrow last week.

I can't say I was looking forward to it.

With headlines about 30,000 lost bags and chaos at Terminal 5, I was paranoid about turning up at my awards ceremony with nothing to wear.

So I took a sensible precaution and decided to rush out to buy a small trolley case that would pass for hand luggage. That way I could keep a close eye on my new frock!

In theory I had it all worked out - I would wear as much as possible and have only a few items to pack.

I might have looked like the Michelin man but at least I had everything I needed.

One of my colleagues reminded me that we would have to be careful about packing liquids because we were only taking hand luggage. You are limited to items less thank 100ml.

Well that threw me. I'm not the best person at travelling light - a girl needs her face creams, hair sprays, deodrants, body lotions, you name it, I pack it even if it is for only one night.

So it was back to the shops to buy tiny travel-sized items of all my essentials.

Then I had a sleepless night worrying about whether airport security would seize all these goodies.

When we got to Manchester we had to pack all our creams in a polythene bag (including my make-up) only there wasn't room for everything.

I 'accidently forgot' I had a few more creams in my case, they would never know would they?

Oh but they are careful! I'll give them that.

Of course I was searched - setting off the bleeper is a speciality of mine. Then I had to take some time to shed my considerable layers and the security woman asked me if I had any creams in my bags.

I had to admit, shamefaced, to my misdemeanour. So that was it - it all came out - she went through everything - I was mortified.

Fortunately, she let me keep it all, it just meant a lot of repacking and redressing.

We didn't do too bad for delays - an hour on the way and an hour on the return and not waiting for cases made it much quicker the other side.

I only hope that the poor bride-to-be whose wedding dress was lost among those 30,000 suitcases didn't have to turn up to her wedding in her undies.

There's a lot to be said for taking the train!

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Your Say Your Guardian

Alison, Warrington says...
12:50pm Wed 30 Apr 08

Why on earth would anybody put themselves through all that hassle when it would have been so much easier to get one of the many trains that go every day down to London. Regardless of the fact that short haul flights like this are a major contibutor to climate change, it's just so much easier to go by rail. You can carry whatever sized bottles of liquid that you want and simply turn up a few minutes before your train leaves. No worrying that your hold luggage might not arrive as it's with you all the time. And yes, I know trains aren't perfect and can be very expensive but if you book in sufficient time they're great, especially on the major routes like Warrington to London - oh yes, and no expensive taxi / parking at the airport either. Next time, let the train take the strain!

Report this post »

Alison, Warrington says...
12:50pm Wed 30 Apr 08

Why on earth would anybody put themselves through all that hassle when it would have been so much easier to get one of the many trains that go every day down to London. Regardless of the fact that short haul flights like this are a major contibutor to climate change, it's just so much easier to go by rail. You can carry whatever sized bottles of liquid that you want and simply turn up a few minutes before your train leaves. No worrying that your hold luggage might not arrive as it's with you all the time. And yes, I know trains aren't perfect and can be very expensive but if you book in sufficient time they're great, especially on the major routes like Warrington to London - oh yes, and no expensive taxi / parking at the airport either. Next time, let the train take the strain!

Report this post »

Alison, Warrington says...
12:50pm Wed 30 Apr 08

Why on earth would anybody put themselves through all that hassle when it would have been so much easier to get one of the many trains that go every day down to London. Regardless of the fact that short haul flights like this are a major contibutor to climate change, it's just so much easier to go by rail. You can carry whatever sized bottles of liquid that you want and simply turn up a few minutes before your train leaves. No worrying that your hold luggage might not arrive as it's with you all the time. And yes, I know trains aren't perfect and can be very expensive but if you book in sufficient time they're great, especially on the major routes like Warrington to London - oh yes, and no expensive taxi / parking at the airport either. Next time, let the train take the strain!

Report this post »

Alison, Warrington says...
12:50pm Wed 30 Apr 08

Why on earth would anybody put themselves through all that hassle when it would have been so much easier to get one of the many trains that go every day down to London. Regardless of the fact that short haul flights like this are a major contibutor to climate change, it's just so much easier to go by rail. You can carry whatever sized bottles of liquid that you want and simply turn up a few minutes before your train leaves. No worrying that your hold luggage might not arrive as it's with you all the time. And yes, I know trains aren't perfect and can be very expensive but if you book in sufficient time they're great, especially on the major routes like Warrington to London - oh yes, and no expensive taxi / parking at the airport either. Next time, let the train take the strain!

Report this post »

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