5 ways to thwart homesickness

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) on Nov 13th 2009 at 3:30PM

As every traveler knows, sacrificing the comforts of home can be difficult. Strange foods, inclement weather, and lying in bed at night without the one you miss the most (your dog) can all lead to the ruination of your vacation or trip. Particularly when you're somewhere very different from your usual surroundings, the pangs of craving the ease of your normal routine and the desire to share your new experiences with loved ones back home can be crippling.
It's a good idea to address the possibility that you may get homesick before you leave. Here are 5 ways to thwart homesickness -- things you can do before and during your trip to help stave off the blues.
1. Photographs. This may seem like a no-brainer, but in this digital age, many of us don't carry photographs with us anymore at all. It's nice to have something tactile with you that you can take out on the top of a mountain or on a boat in the middle of the sea. On the flip side, having a hard copy will keep you from sitting in your room stalking your loved ones' Facebook pages.

2. Talk. My friends who've been solo backpacking in foreign lands all say the same thing: you'll never feel more alone in a crowd than when you don't speak the language and nobody knows you. It's fortunate for us that many countries in the world speak English, but there are still plenty of places where you can go and be totally linguistically helpless. After a day or two of struggling to communicate, you may feel like shutting up altogether -- but don't. Think about it as developing your non-verbal skills. If you don't continue interacting with the people around you, you will almost definitely get bored and/or sad. And you will want to go home.
3. Keep moving. In the great tradition of "fake it till you make it," keeping yourself occupied means less time to pine away. It's that simple. Just get out of that hotel bed, put down that phone, and go experience something, even if you don't want to.
4. Limit your contact with home. While cutting off communication altogether is unnecessary, those from whom you are away are bound to respect your need to be just that: away. Constantly reading e-mails may make you worried about the office, constantly calling home will get you too involved in the day-to-day stuff which can probably be dealt with without you or wait until you get back. If saying "goodnight" to your honey is your crutch, go for it, but don't waste your precious sleep with any of that "you hang up first" nonsense. Say "goodnight" and rest up for another exciting day.

5. Bring yourself a comfort item. Nobody has to know that you still sleep with a nightlight or a teddy bear, or that you deeply love Kraft Macaroni and Cheese (which you can totally make with most hotel coffee-makers), or that you like to watch your dvd of Mary Tyler Moore reruns when you're lonely -- but these are all things that are easy to bring along on almost any trip. A simple thing like your favorite trinket on the nightstand can help you feel grounded when you are far from home.
Got more ideas? How do you keep from getting homesick on the road?

Phoenix airport luggage thefts: 10 tips to protect your bag and belongings

Worried about your bag getting stolen in baggage claim? You’ve got plenty of company, especially since the news broke this week about police arresting a suburban Phoenix couple on suspicion of stealing nearly 1,000 bags from carousels at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX).

Nearly 60% of 1,830 people who responded to an online poll, conducted after the arrests, said they always or often were concerned about the security of their luggage in the baggage-claim area, TripAdvisor reported Friday. Only 11% said they were never concerned.

Although airlines say that they recover nearly all the bags that owners report missing, and that only a tiny percentage are truly lost — because they were misplaced, misrouted, stolen, abandoned or whatever — that’s small comfort to victims, who may have numbered in the hundreds in Phoenix alone.

Here are 10 steps you can take to protect your possessions, gleaned from my research and chats with security experts:

1. Don’t check bags: It’s not always possible, I know. But if you learn to pack lightly, you can handle more trips with just a carry-on, which will also spare you from paying ever-escalating bag fees. Check out these tips from Susan Foster, author of “Smart Packing for Today’s Traveler.”

2. Keep valuables with you: You wouldn’t believe all the stuff that Phoenix police say they found at the home of the theft suspects: laptop computers, adoption papers, a valuable stamp collection, GPS systems, passports and more. What’s worse, airlines generally won’t compensate you for the loss of such valuable or exotic items; United Airlines’ policy is typical.

And in case you were wondering: On domestic flights, the law usually caps compensation for lost or damaged bags at $3,300 per passenger, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. (Compensation on international flights, which is based on arcane calculations, can be even lower.)

3. Make your bag stand out: Why?  “Criminals go after the nondescript, common bag … because  they don’t want attention drawn to themselves,” said Bruce McIndoe, president of iJET Intelligent Risk Systems, a travel security company based in Annapolis, Md.

If your bag looks like all the other black roll-aboards, McIndoe said, a thief just a few feet away from you can swipe it from the carousel without your taking note of it. Consider buying brightly colored  or oddly shaped luggage, or add neon-colored tape or handle wrap-arounds to luggage that you already own.

4. Bring cheap luggage: Why flash your cash?  While researching luggage losses for a story three years ago, I was told that some thieves covet pricey designer bags as much or more than the items packed inside. In any event, an $800 bag is a pretty good tip-off that expensive goods may lie within.

5. Don’t dally: March down to baggage claim as soon as you get off the plane and park yourself right at the point where the the baggage spills down the chute onto the carousel, McIndoe suggested. You want as few people as possible to get between you and your bag. Yes, I know it sometimes takes forever for bags to show up on the carousel, but occasionally I’ve found that they’ve gotten there before I did.

6. Stay alert: It’s tempting to step away from a cart stacked high with your luggage to grab one last bag from the carousel. Unfortunately, an unguarded cart is equally tempting to a thief. Roll the cart up to  the carousel or ask your travel companion to watch it.

7. Avoid switching flights: If you check in for a flight at the airport, and then get on a later one instead, your bag may remain on the original flight and arrive at baggage claim hours before you do. Who watches it in the meantime?  Hard to say. Alert baggage staff may spot it and secure it — or not.

While researching my story in 2006, I watched many bags circle carousels for hours at a time at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). I didn’t see any staff check the claim checks against bag tags as passengers left the claims area, a practice that many airlines seem to have discontinued years ago.

Sometimes, of course, you can’t avoid a last-minute switch, if for instance you get bumped from your  flight or miss a connection.  But sometimes you can, if for instance you volunteer to give up your seat in return for a voucher or other compensation.

8. Fly nonstop: The more connections that you make, the greater the chance that your bags may be misrouted, experts say. And that may leave them to spin around on carousels at airports you’re not even going to visit.

9. File claims promptly: Airlines generally set time limits for filing reports of missing bags. If you miss the deadline, you may miss the chance to get compensated.

10. Consider insurance: So-called bundled trip-insurance policies, which combine several types of coverage, typically include at least some compensation for baggage loss. The premiums vary; 5% to 8% of the trip cost is common. As always, read the fine print.

A final note: As of last week, Phoenix police said, one of the luggage-theft suspects had posted bail and the other remained behind bars.

— Jane Engle, assistant Los Angeles Times Travel editor

Photo: A traveler picks up her luggage from baggage claim at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport in 2004. Credit: Tim Boyle / Getty Images

 

Why missing luggage isn’t always lost

We learned this week that two people were arrested for stealing up to 1,000 pieces of luggage from baggage claim carousels at the Phoenix airport. While this is shocking news, it also isn’t that surprising, considering how relaxed security is in the arrivals area of the airport, compared to the departures level.   

If you’re like most travelers, you take great care with any luggage that you plan to check, usually securing a tag with your contact information in the event your bag becomes lost. At the ticket counter, you may have to pay a fee to check your luggage, but you have the comfort of knowing that your bag’s been tagged carefully by the airline. And before it goes down a conveyor belt, you get a claim receipt so you can retrieve your bag later.

Even carry-on bags are closely watched when you’re departing. Announcements over the airport loudspeaker constantly remind you, “Do not leave your bags unattended.” And on your way to the gate, your luggage is carefully inspected and goes through an x-ray machine before you can even board the plane.

With all this care, security and tracking, why is it that when you arrive at your destination, you often see unclaimed bags circling the carousel in baggage claim? And when you go to retrieve your luggage, why is no one there to check your claim tag or identification? When you think about it, the suspected criminals in Arizona may have concocted the perfect crime. It’s a wonder that they ever got caught.

Have you ever had your luggage lost … or stolen? And were you reunited with your bag, or was it lost forever? Share your stories in the comments section.