Trucking A Way

Everyday I see "X" amount of people come into Yahoo Answer with some kind of travel questions. Because I’ve had 25+ years working for a Major Airline, I try to help where I can because I know 1st hand what it’s like to be stuck in some small town and no one speaks English. Only problem is now that I’ve got an Agency, I’m stuck.

If I answer the question properly it’s going to (in some cases) lead up to me booking a flight, tour or hotel. Can someone figure out a way for me to pass on my 25+ years of travel knowledge without Mr. Yahoo getting upset with the arrangement?

Let me give you an example: Did you know (in most cases) you should not carry your Passport on your person when on tour in some city? The correct way is to have the front-desk lock it up in the hotel safe. If something comes up and you land in jail, the local police know how to send someone over to the hotel for your paperwork.

An American Passport is like "gold" in Europe or Asia. Sticky fingers have a bad habit of going thru your pockets in a very professional manner.

Also—if at all possible carry a English to/from "their" language dictionary with you at all times. Makes for a wonderful day.

Last tip: Put your name, address and any and all phone numbers in two waterproof plastic bags. Then use super-stick two way tape to attach 1 bag dead center to the inside of your suitcase (on both inside walls) so it can be seen if it gets lost and the baggage people look inside to see who the bag belongs to. You can trust them to "eventually" get that bag back to you someday.

DO NOT PUT YOUR ADDRESS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE BAG BECAUSE A ROBBER WILL FAKE STANDING IN LINE AT THE AIRPORT TO LOOK DOWN TO READ WHERE YOU LIVE. He knows he can visit your home tonight and you’ll be out of town on vacation. These guy’s ain’t stupid !!

I lied…. one more tip: Sometimes when I worked in baggage we would have so much mail and/or cargo (even on a jumbo 747) that we had to put a few bag’s inside the flight in the passenger area. Some bag’s were strapped into an empty seat. Some hidden in the bathroom during takeoff and landings. My point being… "sometimes" we dropped those bag’s trying to get them thru the door normally used to bring meal on board. Quite a drop (maybe 40+ feet) down to some very hard cement. That’s why you’ll see a seasoned traveler secure his bag with maybe two wraps of a thick nylon belt. They he will wrap tape around the end strap so it won’t come loose too easy.

I’ve got to tell you one more story… One day one of our ground crew guy’s noticed a chip of black paint missing from this heavy brick we used to hold the big doors open in the bag room. He said he picked the brick up and got out his knife and started digging some more of the paint off. After about 10 minutes he presented the supervisor with the missing Gold Bar from a shipment of Government cargo a few years back.

Someday I’ll tell you about the very rich Oil Sheik’s 5 year old son who ended up walking around in downtown New York because when the flight landed and the passengers started to debark he slipped into the crowd then jumped on a limo to the city. Almost every cop in New York was in on that one.

O.K. "this" is my last entry: When I worked in the Reservations office and we had a very difficult passenger, we would ask him (or her) the BIG question… "Do you know what T.W.A. stands for ? Naturally they would say, "Trans World Airlines."
Then with a very soft voice we would say, "no… it came from a idea that you might… "Try Walking Across!!!"

A very interesting ‘article’! As a seasoned traveler I can identify… The only thing different is that I always thought TWA stood for "Teeny Weeny Airlines"!! Thanks for the chuckle!

Six months ago my parents bought a bar in a small village in Germany. We spent well over 500 euros on liquor. Now the restaurant didn’t do so well and we are selling it and now all of this mostly unopened liquor is going to go to waste.

I would like to take it back to Canada with me strictly for personal use (to setup my own at home bar). Is there anyway to ship it down to my address in Canada? And how can I calculate the alcohol taxes I am probably going to get taxed for? Would it be outrageously expensive and not worth the effort?

Also another question is that I bought a Replica Luger gun at a novelty store down here. I want to bring it back with me but I’m not sure what would happen if I put the novelty replica gun in my cargo luggage. Its in a box with instructions stating that it’s a replica gun… my brother says I should just pack it on my cargo luggage but I don’t want to take any chance. Would the confiscate my luggage if they think I may have packed a real gun into it?

The best thing for you do do would be to call and ask about shipping alcohol to Canada, see if they will even allow you do do it. I would also call the airline and ask them about the replica gun and their requirements on putting it in your luggage, you may be able to ship it via mail if the airline says no, just check with the post office in that case first. Good luck.

Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

Why is it that if someone told you there are a billion stars, you would believe him, but if someone told you there is wet paint on the wall, you would have to touch it to be sure?

If quitters never win and winners never quit, who said “Quit while you’re ahead”?

Why is it that when something is sent in a car, its called shipment, and yet when something is sent in a ship, its called cargo?

Why do bars advertise live bands? What does a dead band sound like?

If one synchronized swimmer drowns do the rest of them have to drown too?

If today is the first day of the rest of our lives, what in the world was yesterday?

Why do they call them apartments when the are all stuck together?

Why does bottled water have an expiration date?

If rabbits’ feet are so lucky, then what happened to the rabbit?

How do they get the swirls in the toothpaste to come out so perfectly?

How would you throw away a trash can?

How would you know when you are out of invisible ink?

What would happen if you get scared half to death twice?

If tomorrow is going to be twice as cold as today, and today it is 0 degrees, how cold is it going to be tomorrow?

Why is the word “abbreviation” so long?

What is a free gift? Aren’t all gifts free?

Pretty good. My question (oft asked), what is a gorm that to not have it leaves us gormless?
Does the saying "as sure as eggs are eggs," have any significance and would I really want to teach anyone how to suck them when the skill is in blowing them?
What exactly does the P and Q in p’s and q’s mean, and how can I mind them if I don’t know what they are?
If absence makes the heart grow fonder, then why is out of sight out of mind?
There really is "nowt as queer as folk," is there?
Enjoyed this, thanks for the fun!
Sure there’ll be loads more joining this one.