Travel- Carrying on about carry on baggage

I wrote earlier of my return from Africa, horrible re-booking fee despite being compelled to change my flight out of a genuine emergency and then, the last straw, having my baby Mac laptop stolen from my carry on baggage. I received the following fill in the blanks form e mail from British Air this morning.
I am extremely sorry to learn about your missing computer. Thank you for your email of about it. I am afraid that passengers are not entitled to compensation from the airline in this kind of situation. We cannot be responsible for personal possessions that remain in your own care while you're on board the plane. If you had travel insurance, though, you may be covered through that. Thank you for following this up with us and I hope you will fly with us again soon. Sincerely Roberta Lance

OK. I do have insurance and my company will replace my laptop. My beef is with the cavalier statement in the e mail. "We cannot be responsible for personal possessions that remain in your own care while you're on board the plane." In my care my foot!

I was on a flight between Heathrow and Phoenix that in economy, was packed to the gills. I've already expressed my belief that they had people standing in the aisles. One of the last to board, my day pack (small-not over stuffed just a regular Eddie Bauer day pack) was taken from me by an attendant and stowed several - eight to be precise- rows back. Other passengers had used all the space in the immediate vicinity of my seat in row 41. Squished in a middle seat I could barely move let alone monitor my personal possessions! At one point during the flight I attempted to locate my pack to retrieve my glasses. No such luck. After opening 5 bins I gave up.

Personal beef here. I travel a great deal and I am thoroughly tired of the arbitrary application of carry on luggage regulations. I guess as long as people think they'll get away with it, the rules have little sway. I am also thoroughly tired of fellow passengers who interpret the rules to suit their own needs. On this last flight, the man across the aisle from me carried on board a duffle bag big enough to hold a kitchen sink (and it seemed to be that heavy- it also turned out that it held a crank shaft!) a roll-on and a bulging back-pack. The back-pack he obligingly suggested that the woman next to me might put under the seat in front of her so he could have "more leg room". I was one of the last to be seated because three women ahead of me each had four articles of carry on baggage including brown paper wrapped paintings, huge canvas hold-all, roll-ons and 'purses' that could hold a week's worth of groceries. Ladies, it clearly states "Two Items" and that includes your handbags! Why oh why must you inflict your selfishness upon others. Standing by the carousels waiting to retrieve checked baggage I amused (in reality annoyed) myself by counting pieces of carry on. The majority of passengers had three.

I am a packing light crusader (except when it comes to road trips - then I seem to take all my shoes); it's to my own advantage to pack light. I've learned over the years that there is little more miserable than being over-packed and over-baggaged. I traveled with a group last year were three of us were poster children (albeit aging ones) for the pack light brigade and we were rewarded by getting on the bus and train first and securing the best seats while the weighted down group huffed and hauled their entire wardrobes onto the transporation.

It's not just British Air that applies policy in an arbitrary manner. On Kenyan Air my smaller than regular roll-on was denied cabin access whilst around me other passengers were dragging on full size suitcases. Blows the mind. And then there are the different weight allowances of different airlines that if you are transferring can really bite you with an on the spot excess baggage fee. Really check out weight allowances if you are transferring to a code share flight. My BA noted ticket, Phoenix to Ethiopia, transferred to a BMI flight at Heathrow and my baggage allowance was cut in half.

Need to walk off my irritation with all of this. Would love to hear your views because I'm beginning to wonder if I'm turning into a first rate grouch!

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Travel Blog - Greenbacked Turtles Hatch

I'm always gratified, when on vacation or traveling, to run across organisations dedicated to conservation issues. On Lamu Island last month (Indian Ocean off the coast of Kenya) I was fortunate to be down by the water one morning when a young man who had been of real help when we arrived asked if we'd be interested in seeing turtles hatch later that day. Wow. What a prospect. Late afternoon we crammed onto a shallow bottomed boat and wended our way through the mangrove swamps to a remote beach. After wading to shore we got the “follow me” signal and set off at a fast clip across a spit of land. Over a hill we came to a small settlement, just a couple of thatched huts, thorn fence to keep out predators, goats, chickens, two scrawny dogs and several equally scrawny children. “A fisherman’s home”, our leader explained. “He used to be a poacher, now he works to save the turtles.” Throughout Rwanda and Kenya I had met several people in conservation work and it was obvious that the key to success was not in preventing poaching but in giving poachers an stake in the success of conservation.

Headed by Atwaa Salim and with the backing of Carol and Lars Korschen of Peponi Hotel in Lamu, the Lamu Marine Conservation Trust was established in 1992 to reduce the illegal trade of sea turtle product on the black market with a stated mission to:
“increase the survival chance of the hatchlings and enhance beach security in Lamu from the regular patrolling, treat sick turtles with barnacles, tumours and other complications spread awareness of the sea turtles as an essential part of the ecosystem and biodiversity promote eco-tourism through the trips to see the hatchling spread awareness amongst the local community through talks in schools schools and video presentations about the importance of turtle conservation” www.tusk.org/lamu-marine-conservation-project.asp

On a pragmatic level this has translated into hiring ex-poachers to patrol the beach, monitor nest sites, tag turtles. There’s a solid financial reward for success and in ten years, the average number of nests hatched has risen from 10 to 70. Local fishermen who catch turtles by mistake now have a financial inducement to bring the animal to the Trust headquarters where they are they are measured, treated if ill, tagged and released back into the ocean. Each fisherman is put on a register and paid an incentive according to the size of the turtle (correlating with how much could be gained from the black market).

As with all conservation efforts I saw in Kenya, success is only as good as the commitment from the local community. On Lamu the Trust works with the local primary school and has established tree nurseries and a bee keeping project, funding for both enterprises coming from donations from visitors to the turtle hatching sites.

Once we were over the hill the roar of waves filled the air and we were loping down the slope to a stretch of wild beach pounded by surf.

A gnarled, weather beaten man waited just up from the water edge. As we approached he began scooping away sand and miracle of miracles – it was amazing, dozens of tiny greenback turtle hatchlings wiggled their way free of the sand and began a wobbly slide and slither down to the surf. The rubbery empty eggshells were counted – 182 hatchlings had survived from a clutch of 193 eggs – the number to survive the first twenty-four hours in the ocean will be a far lesser number.

Our poacher turned conservationist counted the eggshells as he placed them in a sack – his payment would come when he turned that into the trust. I was curious as to how they know when a nest has hatched – apparently there is an indentation in the sand that the keen and trained eye can spot.

It was a once in a lifetime experience for me.

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Road Trips, House Swaps

It's true that the Euro has the dollar cowering in a corner so, for many pragmatists, European travel is out for the immediate future. For others this can be a long awaited opportunity. With fewer Americans traveling abroad hotels are less crowded and there are last minute bargains to be found. Over the past few years I've taken advantage of booking internal travel within Europe through European providers at significant savings. Check the numbers. It is frequently far less expensive to fly into a hub European destination (London, Paris, Berlin, Milan) and take an ongoing locally originated flight over booking direct through a US carrier. True, you have to schlepp the bags through customs etc. but then if you're a smart cookie, you'll be traveling light and that won't be an issue. By booking Tucson/London on AA earlier this year and then switching to Ryan Air for a flight to Pisa, I saved $390 USD.

See the USA! and if choruses of "are we there" from the back seat have you cringing, consider train travel. I love road trips and have, in the past two years, done little booking ahead. For large cities I've depended on Hotwire.com for last minute hotel deals and have scored big time. For along the road nowhere stops I've found some initial research on B&B's helpful. Twice now I've not bothered to book along the Oregon coast and found showing up at 6 p.m. looking for a room has got me a place to stay for significantly less than listed price.

Hotel bills have you blue? Think house swap. Seriously, there are many people who consider where you live to be their dream destination. A savvy friend went into the site VRBO.com (vacation rentals by owner) looked at places she wanted to visit, checked out availability and were bookings were obviusly down, contacted the owners and negotiated a great deal. I did the same with a favorite destination and have a place on Orcas island for a week in September in exchange for a winter week at my home in Tucson. Thinking out of the box can get you out of a rut and on your way!

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On the Road Again

Welcome to the Connections for Women travel specific blog. We’re told that it’s the women who make the vacation decisions, plan the routes, crunch the numbers and get the family in gear for travel. Also know from personal experience that a lot of women travel alone or in groups of women and that solo and girls only trips are growing trends. Our intent in the blog is to share travel stories, tips, ideas, reviews, highs and lows of on the road, in the air or afloat. Destinations near and far, alternatives to traditional vacations, house swapping, just for thrills and kicking back adventures, purpose driven vacations (language schools, cooking schools), travel books and movies– you name it. If we can get the skinny, experience it ourselves or talk to the source, you’ll find it here. Hop on board for the ride and don’t hesitate to comment along the way.