The smallest checked bag

[bchaplin]

Flying back from Israel now. The A30, daylight backpack and Pilot combo worked well, with some glitches. I will write more about it once I am home.

Meanwhile, I am experimenting with checking the dry bag I used for clothes washing on the trip. It contains my pocket knife, and also a Hebrew phrase book and leftover sunscreen. Things I could afford to lose, though I assume the trip insurance would cover loss or damage. If this works it will be my new way to keep a pocket knife when I travel! And I did find it was needed at times.



The other passengers in line thought it was funny. One of them actually held it while I snapped the photo, mainly for identification purposes in case that's needed later.

[Pokilani]

Safe travels! Looking forward to your report back. That checked bag looks to be the size of a flipper. If you didn't have the pocket knife, would it still fit in the A30?


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[bchaplin]

The smallest checked bag

Yes. It folds up to almost nothing. It traveled in the A30 up till now. I puffed it up with air when I rolled the top closed to make it more visible to the baggage handlers.

[dwright17]

Hi bchaplin! I'd love to hear how your trip went. How was Zurich, and how was Israel? I'm also curious to know how your dry bag worked for laundry. I've been thinking about trying that method but hadn't heard whether it works well or not.

[timothy]

Not that there's anything wrong with that ... but did you have to pay a fee to check that bag? I haven't flown internationally in a while (well, once last year, but with no checked bags) -- do you still get a bag or two checked free these days?

If not, that's gotta be some pocketknife

Also: I'll soon get around to pasting in some Bihn-in-Israel photos from a few years back. Hope you had a great time -- I'd like to go back, but haven't yet, and sometimes the tensions seem higher than others ...

The travel-photos section should be called "Bihn there / done that."

[bchaplin]

The bag made it! It was dirty but does not seem to be ripped, which I was very surprised at.

If this isn't clear to anyone reading this, don't use this method for anything you are not upset to lose. I considered it a gamble.

No, Swiss Air does not charge a fee for a checked bag. If so, it would not have been worthwhile to try this out. The nice thing about traveling on an airline that doesn't charge for checked bags is that the overheads are not overly full from people trying to avoid the fee and boarding the plane is a smoother process. However, I prefer to keep the bag with my clothes and other items with me anyway.

To answer the questions above:

• Zurich was great, though I was a little tired after the night flights and would have liked more time to see it.
  
• Israel was WONDERFUL. I'm a big fan of going in November. It is off-season and not too hot. Traveling solo has its pros and cons, but I had some great experiences and would do it all over again tomorrow if I didn't have to go back to work. All accommodations were airbnb's, which worked out very well. Most of my time was spent sightseeing at historical sites and museums, and doing day tours. In all four cities I stayed at, most restaurants had outdoor seating. For some reason, this is just so nice for me. I really like sitting outside, even if it is a little cool, and watching the street-life.
• I would love to see your photos! Tensions were certainly high in Jerusalem that week. I did get tear-gassed a little when visiting the Mount of Olives, as the gas drifted over towards our tour. This wasn't much fun at the time, but once we rounded the hill it wasn't a problem anymore. Haifa, Tzfat and Tel Aviv were comparatively calmer.
• The dry bag was fine. It rolled up very small and did not leak. It was the ultrathin kind from Sea to Summit. I had almost purchased a "Scrubba", which is specifically designed for clothes washing, and may get this next time. With the dry bag, I filled it with hot water and detergent, added the clothes, and then stuck my hands in the bag, agitating and rubbing by hand, and then let them sit for 20 minutes in the detergent. Two rinses, squeeze dry, roll in a towel, then hang overnight. In some places the clothes did NOT dry overnight and were still damp, so I did laundry on the first day of a two-night stay whenever possible. I forgot to bring a clothes line, which I regretted, so I had to be creative in finding places to hang the clothes.
  
• The pocket knife is nothing special. I think it cost $10 to $15. I just like having one with me. It has a little scissors, which is needed sometimes to open packaging.

[bchaplin]

Also, here is a more realistic view of the green dry bag, when not puffed up with air, and its contents. The white paper bag you see in the background actually held the knife, phrase book and sunscreen, to keep them from poking holes in the nylon.

[TavaPeak]

What? No Ahava hand lotion? :-)