Passengers don't leave home without it

Recently, while flying home from a visit to Austin, Texas, I was seated next to a man who carried on in an unusual way. It wasn't that he ranted about the terrible service in a creative rap, which is what a young man seated at the gate was doing.

This carry-on was a vest. It was loaded with pockets and wires. The man had his CD player in one pocket and his phone in another. Both of them were attached by wires that fed through his vest to his ear plugs. He also had pockets for his camera, his passport and boarding pass. Other pockets held his tooth brush, a razor and a change of clothes. And in the back, he had a large, padded pocket that held his computer.

The man was a walking suitcase. He claimed it was the easiest way in the world to travel. When he got to a security checkpoint, he took off the vest, slipped the computer out of the pocket and zipped right through. And finding storage space on the plane was a piece of cake. He never traveled without it.

While this man may never leave home without his vest, other travelers have quirky possessions that accumulate as much mileage as their owners, but have nothing to do with practicality.

Take my old flying partner's slippers. She got them in Norway more than 30 years ago. We were on a spring vacation. We planned to spend the first week in Norway and the second week in Portugal and naively thought April meant warm. So we packed for the beach. Unfortunately, sandals didn't cut it in snow-covered fjords and we both bought fur-lined shoes. When we returned home, mine landed in the trash. Hers landed in her carry-on. She says they're like old friends and she can't travel without them.

Doug Wood has a giraffe that lives in his carry-on. Ten years ago the giraffe belonged to Cindy, his 7-year-old daughter. Cindy wanted her dad to take the giraffe on his business trips and take pictures of it wherever he traveled, so Doug started packing the stuffed animal. The giraffe visited the Alamo, the Washington Monument and the Golden Gate Bridge. It also made stops in Peoria, Des Moines and Albuquerque. Doug loaded the pictures into a scrapbook for Cindy who took the book to school for show-and-tell. The book became a big hit with Cindy's third-grade teacher. It also became a big hit with Doug. Show-and-tell ended years ago, but the giraffe still travels. Doug says it reminds him of his daughter every time he pulls it from his bag and makes him feel closer to home.

Lisa Cross doesn't travel with a stuffed animal, but she does travel with a blankie. After her daughter was born, it was difficult for Lisa to leave home for her business trips. She dreaded her time away from her child. The toddler seemed to sense it. When Lisa was packing for a three-day trip to New York, her little girl dropped one of her baby blankets in her mommy's bag to make her happy. That was three years ago. The blanket still makes Lisa happy.

When Mary Ann Gutterman used to pack for a business trip, she loaded half her bag with family pictures. It limited her wardrobe, but made her feel less homesick. Now, thanks to technology, she packs one digital photo frame that's loaded with pictures. As soon as she arrives at her hotel, she plugs it in next to her bed. She says it makes the room feel less sterile and more like home.

While air travelers constantly search for more ways to lighten their loads, some items lighten the load in an entirely different way. And we never leave home without them.

Gail Todd, a free-lance writer,worked as a flight attendant for more than 30years. She can be reached via e-mail at gailtodd@aol.com.