Jaunted

My guy and I had been traveling for a few months in Asia and Europe. We were due to fly from Lisbon to New York, spend two days seeing friends, then scoot onwards to Jamaica and Central America.

We'd been traveling with carry-on-sized backpacks, and had yet to check them. But our packs were slightly too heavy for the short hop to our connecting flight in Zurich. So into the cargo hold they went.

We arrived at JFK after a few hiccups and more than a few delays. Our bags? Not so much. With a miniscule budget and very little time, we found a discount sporting-goods store and picked up a few five-dollar t-shirts, cheap canvas gym bags, and what may well be the ugliest swimsuits manufactured that year.

Our taxi driver from the airport at Montego Bay saw our lack of luggage and assumed we were going to one of the island's clothing-optional resorts. Once we'd picked up sarongs to wear during our now-very-frequent clothes-washing sessions, we were set. Thankfully we were headed towards warm places.

What we did right:

1. Carried essential medications and toiletries (and spare underwear!) in our daypacks,

2. Wore our "best" (semi-dressy, no-wrinkle, quick-dry) travel clothes on the plane.

1. Checked some treasured souvenirs instead of mailing them home immediately.

2. Neglected to check carry-on weight limits for a flight with several connections.