Vicky When you go on holiday there is always the worry that your luggage is not going to make it to the same destination as you. It happened to us once! We were travelling around Europe and my daughter’s backpack never made it onto the plane. For two weeks she had to borrow her sister’s clothes and we had to buy her more things as we travelled. This was an absolute nightmare and it was a lesson we learned for future trips. How can you look after your luggage on holiday though? Here are some tips to help you.
Look After Your Luggage On Holiday
Firstly, you should decide whether you will include checked luggage in your holiday plans. Checked luggage often costs a lot more money if you book flights separately. But if you need to include checked luggage you don’t want it to get lost, so here are a few ideas of how to ensure the safety of your checked suitcase.
Make your suitcase recognisable to you. Add stickers, big bits of ribbon or even use a case covering. This will help you to find your luggage on the carousel and prevent others from picking it up too. Put a luggage label on there with someone else’s address. So if it does get lost it can be sent to this address whilst you are away.
Pop a GPS tracker into the suitcase. I have seen this done many times before and you will be able to check where your suitcase is at any time. When you arrive at your destination, you can open your app and make sure your luggage has arrived. If it hasn’t made it on the plane, you can see where it is. This makes it so much easier to find it. With a GPS tracker, you can follow the route of your suitcase or luggage. GPS trackers have a decent battery life, so you should be okay for a week or two before the battery runs out.
Look After Backpacks And Handbags On Holiday
Personally, I never take a handbag on holiday unless it goes into my checked luggage and I only use it for nights out. I wouldn’t walk around whilst I go shopping with a handbag. But if you have one, make sure it is a shoulder bag and you can wear it across your body. Then wear the handbag in front of you, so it lies on your stomach and you have your eyes on it all of the time. If you have a cross-body bag, make sure you wear it like this too. Always hide your important documents and cash in a zipped pocket, so it is not easily accessible to pickpockets.
When it comes to backpacks, these are a pickpocket dream. You wear them on your back, so you have no sight of them and don’t know when someone is about to steal something. But there are ways to get around this. You can wear your backpack on your front, then it is in your view the whole time. It is slightly less comfortable to wear it this way. You can buy some small padlocks or zip ties to keep your zips from being opened as you travel. You can also buy some backpacks where there are invisible zips. The zips are hidden with clever sewing and it makes it difficult for pickpockets to open the backpack.
You can also pop your GPS tracker in your handbag or backpack if you put your bag on a table whilst you stop for a cheeky glass of wine or a quick coffee. Then if someone happens to walk by and steal your bag, you can track it down. A thief is not going to stop and check if there is a tracker in the bag. So you should be able to get it back. The GPS tracker also helps if you leave your bag on a train, bus or plane. You will know exactly where to find it and can go and collect it.
Pack Some Of Your Stuff In Hand Luggage
Before you go away think about what you would do if your luggage got lost. What could you not cope with? If you are going on a beach holiday, wear your bikini underneath your clothes. Then pop a spare set of clothes, another beach outfit and a cardigan or jumper into your hand luggage. Not everyone who handles your suitcase is going to look after your luggage on holiday. So if your hold luggage goes missing, you have some things to change into. It makes your hand luggage heavier, but it also means you have the stuff in your hand luggage ready to go to the pool when you get there.
