Thoughts from 13F
Not quite the start to our vacation I was anticipating...
In my hundreds of thousands of flying miles, never in my life have I had such a terrible experience. I can think of some pretty shitty encounters over the years, but none that have felt so… abusive?
All started so well… I was fully packed by 7pm last night, before we took Marley to her sitter’s house. I wasn’t even sure what to do with myself last night, as my usual packing strategy is typically a last-minute scramble.
I only packed my carry-on suitcase since we had a connecting international flight.
Since we planned on mainly bumming it on the beach this trip, I didn’t need much! A sundress or two, some bathing suits, a couple pairs of shorts, and a few tees. I was pretty proud of myself for pairing down my toiletries, too… I whittled down my makeup bag to only what I’d need for a casual four days. I didn’t pack a blow dryer or any of my hair products, as I figured I’d be opting for low-key humidity-friendly hairstyles, aka: my hair would be in a low bun all week.
In my toiletry bag, I only had my two serums, a daytime moisturizer (with SPF, obvi) and a night time moisturizer. I had my deodorant, electric toothbrush, a fresh mini toothpaste, and my tongue scraper. Since I had so much extra room in the bag that’s normally packed to the brim, I tossed in my mini chafing stick and some baby powder, just in case. Since both of my mini dry shampoo sprays were nearly empty, I stuck both of them in the bag, too. There’s nothing I love more than clearing things out — in this case, my travel toiletry bin, as well as my toiletry bag on the way home. Two bottles gone, woo hoo. That’s how you know you’ll have room for a small souvenir!
You know I live for organization. Coupled with so much flying experience, I’ve had my packing preferences perfected for years. After many exploded bottles, I now know to organize my shower items in a separate little waterproof bag. Shampoo, conditioner, body wash, face wash. I put my razor handle and two new (sealed!) cartridges in there, too. Makes it easy at the hotel so I’m not digging around — I know that bag is for the shower. I can even put it *in* the shower if I wanted to. And if anything leaks, it’s super easy to wash out and it’s fully contained. I’ve had this same little Persifor bag since probably 2013. I’d give you the link, but sadly the brand retired a few years back.
Since the Caribbean was on the horizon and I take my sunscreen very seriously, I wanted to have options. I have this cute little Supergoop bag from an old collab that I packed my SPF products in. As I was packing, I realized I had a two small tubes of Matte Screen and Unseen Sunscreen that were left over from last summer. Not expired yet, I put them in the little bag, along with freshies for each. Two more bottles I’d be able to clear out on the trip!
Dave and I have had a lot of conversations about skincare as we’ve been having ‘wedding year’ talks. I’ve expressed how it’s extra important to wear sunscreen this year so his face isn’t beet red at our wedding and in the pictures that we’re paying the cost of a small car for. (My friends and his are for sure laughing *out loud* right now. Dave notoriously doesn’t wear sunscreen, which you can imagine physically pains me, but I’ve made lots of strides with getting him to apply.)
I wanted him to have options of sunscreen to wear so I packed a spray, a lotion, and an oil. All travel-size, of course! I also added in a sweat-proof facial lotion that I know he will wear.
I packed everything perfectly in my carry-on suitcase, without even having to sit on it to close it like I normally do. Maybe traveling light is the way to go?!
Our alarms go off at 5am this morning and I woke up much easier than I normally do. Vacation time! My clothes and shoes (and even bra and underwear) are already laid out and ready to go.
Dave showers, I brush my teeth, and do a couple of housekeeping things around our apartment. I even have time to re-lace my new-ish shoes that feel a little tight. We order an Uber and it’s only 2 minutes away. And we’re off!
Security was a breeze and the Pre-Check line wasn’t as long as it normally is. at 5:45am, we are cruising right on through, it’s going to be a good day. Although sleepy, Dave and I were laughing and having a good time in line, and I even smiled at a girl my age and told her I liked her outfit. They opened another conveyor belt so I stepped over to that one, while Dave stayed in the original line.
I was the second one through and I saw the TSA agent really taking her time looking at the scans of what had to be my bags. The one man in front of me had already gotten his and went. I wondered if it was the new travel steamer I stuffed into my MZ Wallace bag, that I use as my personal item?? She ends up pulling my suitcase off the belt and putting it on the table behind her, but never called over for a bag check.
I wait as 10-15 more people grab their bags and go, wondering when my bag is going to actually get checked. I scan around to find Dave and mouth to him I’m waiting for my bag and I’ll be out in a sec.
The TSA agent has someone swap with her to start scanning bags and she personally takes my bag back to the screening area. She unzips my bag and is carefully looking at all of the scans above on the screen. I appreciate her attention to detail and can tell she’s wanting to make sure she’s checking the correct spot. I can see what she’s seeing… On both scans (from the top and from the side), it’s outlining the lower corner of my suitcase down near the wheels. Huh, I thought, I thought it was just shoes in that corner. I wonder what’s triggering it? Did I accidentally put a product that wasn’t 100fl ounces?? Is there something in my bag I don’t know about??
