According to the airlines, only about 2% of bags get lost. For a Road Warrior-ess, that's quite a risk. Check a bag 100 times a year, and you could lose two, if you're average.
Slash your risks! Use only a carryon bag whenever possible. Use our packing tips and others' to reduce your "stuff" enough to get it down to one bag. Backpackers and some perpetual travelers can live out of one bag for months at a time. I spent several months "riding the rails through China" with just one duffle. Laptops were h-e-a-v-y then, wireless did not really exist, and I had to lug along a "small" (hah!) travel printer. With the teeny-tiny sizes of so many items these days, and reduced weights, it is much easier to lug an entire office, a library, whatever. So if your trip is less than a week, you can certainly get it down to one.
There are times when you simply need a lot of clothes, heavy winter clothes, or other stuff, and a single carryon simply won't cut it. Reduce your risks of your bag failing to land when and where you do.
Luggage tags: do not use your home address. Use your office address, private mail facility address, P.O. Box, anything to keep nosy-parkers from discovering you are not at home. Do not put your home phone number on there, either. Use a free email addie which you could check in case of lost luggage, a message phone, office phone, pager number or similar contactable email or phone that does not reveal your home location and private numbers/addresses.
Help yourself spot your bag faster. Decal, neon-colored strap, something!
Get your little butt-sky straight to the baggage claim. Do not get delayed or sidetracked. Be there when the belt starts rumbling and the bags roll. The lonely bag is more likely to get lifted than the one you grab the second it spits out of the chute.
Next up: a post on protecting your possessions within.
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