Cindy with John, Bea, Katrina and baby Miguel
The following post is a real life story from Cindy Matias, the creator of The Bag Tag Studio and a fantastic range of personalised luggage tags and bag tags.
We all know we need to put ID on our luggage when we travel. Personally, I used to do it out of habit (now I do it as an excuse to make myself another tag from my favourite designs). It’s just something that I’ve always done as far back as I can remember. It wasn’t until a recent trip a few months ago that I really saw the benefit of this habit.
A few months ago, I set off on a 5-week family adventure to the US with my husband, John and 3 kids – Katrina, 9, Bea, 5, and Miguel, 3 months. Our itinerary involved moving through 5 cities (New York, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Florida, Boston) in a span of 5 weeks. Friends thought we were crazy to attempt this trip with a 3-month old. I thought it was great!
Travelling light was not in our vocabulary. We had 8 check-in bags, plus 5 on board bags – each bag had one of our personalised luggage tags with our surname, frequent flyer number, and address on it. I had all our passports and cash for the trip in my backpack. My husband had his camera gear and laptop. The kids had their own backpacks with their stuff to keep them busy on the plane. I carried our 3 month old in a Baby Bjorn pouch in front of me, with the backpack on my back. This is how I went through Sydney Airport and onto the plane.
After a long flight, we finally got to the other end – a stopover in Los Angeles. We had to change planes for our onward journey to New York. Everyone gathered their bags, and I put our 3-month old back in the pouch as we got off the plane. As we waited by the baggage carousel for our check-in luggage, my husband turned to me and asked for his passport. I turned around so he could get it out off the backpack on my back. The expression on his face changed as he asked “Where’s your backpack?!”. I stared at him momentarily and went cold, then uttered a few expletives. I thought I had my backpack on me but it was the weight of the baby in the pouch that was pulling down on my shoulders. There was NO backpack! I had left it under my seat on the plane!
Cindy and family in New York
Our passports, our cash, our credit cards… EVERYTHING was in that backpack! We just knew we had to get it back. My husband raced through the airport to find the relevant airline personnel so he could hopefully get back on the plane to get the bag. It wasn’t an easy task as US Airport Security is very tight – even tighter when you have some tired, unshaven gentleman without a passport wanting to get back on an empty plane to get a backpack!
After much confusion, explaining and convincing, an airport staff member at the arrival gate asked my husband to identify the bag he was looking for. He did this as well as providing them with all the details on the luggage tag. They checked his NSW Drivers’ License (which he luckily had in his camera bag) against the details on the luggage tag and, once convinced that he was the owner of the backpack, turned it over to him.
Heaven only knows what the rest of the trip would have been like if we had lost that backpack so early into our trip. It was definitely an experience and only one of the many stories that we brought home with us from that 5-week family adventure.
Written by Cindy Matias
The Bag Tag Studio
www.bagtagstudio.com.au
Please visit the Haggus and Stookles E-Store. We sell adorable Luggage Tags and some other high quality products for you and your kids luggages.
Other posts you might enjoy reading:
Plane travel with kids – tips and packing carry on luggage
Thanks for the great info. I really enjoy reading posts on here.
Very helpful post. It has been very difficult for me to find anything good on this topic. thanks.