Where in the world am I today?: Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii

So this tip comes to you based on a fairly recent personal experience… Back on the 9th of September (gee… I guess that’s three weeks ago now…somehow it seems more recent than that, likely because it left such an impression, but I’m completely off topic…) I flew from Vancouver up to Ketchikan to join the Golden Princess for a gig. Typically for cruise ship work I travel with three checked bags. One that carries my ladder and unicycle, another for props and a third for clothing and costumes. This trip was no different. I checked all three bags in at the airport in Vancouver, but when I actually got to Ketchikan, only two of the three pieces arrived.

Thankfully the two that did arrive included all of my props and I was able to figure out some bits and pieces costume-wise that allowed me to pull of my performances, but it was a bit of a scramble to make it all happen.

So what happened? Was this simply a case of the bag not making it onto the plane?

Turns out that the destination tag that tells the baggage handlers at the airport where the case is bound for had got caught in one of the conveyor belts and ripped off the case. The only way that the baggage handlers were able to trace the bag was as a result of the name tags that I had on the handle of the case. I also had an Air Canada luggage tag on the case too, so the bag first got transferred to Air Canada’s lost luggage department, then they used the name tag to call my home number.

I followed up with a phone call the next morning and with in two days the bag was delivered to the ship in Victoria and I was good to go for the rest of the contract. Thank goodness those tags didn’t get ripped off the case as well!

So – This week’s tip for Tuesday is this… Make sure all of the bags you travel with have ‘robust’ name tags on them and my suggestion on that front is to laminate a business card with your contact information on it, punch a hole in it then get some thin but durable nylon cord and use it to hold the tag to your case(s). A slightly more accident-proof name tag will give you a slightly better chance of getting your case back should things go sideways and you and your luggage be separated.