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thanks again!
Quote:
Originally Posted by carolinelb
Oldpenny,
Oops, I should have gotten back to this thread sooner - It is definitely meant to be - I think I have learned a lot from you! And I aspire to your level of organization and efficiency.
I keep valuable things such as my sunglasses, phone, and meds in my tiny travel purse, btw, and I really don't want to lose them, so I guard it carefully...
I have a travel wardrobe that includes many pockets. Mr. Tilley started security pockets in travel clothing with his clothing/hat company in Canada. Many other companies now make similar items including the multi-pocketed Scottevest line. I keep essential medicines in my pockets.
Unless I'm going through the TSA security check, my IPhone is in a pocket as well.
I'm now doing a search for a new bunch of travel jacket/blazers that all of us in our office can have. Starting with custom made (Hong Kong tailers) to Magellan's and Tilley, I have a good idea we will be able to order jackets fairly soon at a cost of between $125 to $250 per jacket.
A good travel jacket/blazer is a huge start on being organized for travel and takes a lot of the stress off what you might carry in a purse.
Will your jackets be ones that you wear at trade shows as well as on travel?
I have been wondering about the travel jackets - if you get hot, do you just drape the jacket across your lap? And do all the pockets have closures, so things won't fall out?
I think it would be great to be able to customize your clothing with just the features you require. I have been making clothes for myself most of my life, since I have a lot of trouble finding things long enough, but I haven't really added handy features.
However, I have been planning out a couple of bags that are completely custom for me - with a place for every single thing I need - one will be a dress bag, tiny, and organized, and yet will hold my small camera (for parties and weddings), and one will be an everyday backpack purse, with pockets for everything, including reusable shopping bags, that will be extremely lightweight.
I also want to design a tiny travel cross body bag, and a travel backpack which can transform into a shoulder bag appropriate for a nice restaurant when we get off the Metro.
I think it would be great to be able to customize your clothing with just the features you require. I have been making clothes for myself most of my life, since I have a lot of trouble finding things long enough, but I haven't really added handy features.
Carolinelb, try some of the patterns from Saf-T-Pockets which have both ordinary and hidden pockets in each garment - jackets, slacks, skirts, vests, etc. They've got patterns for bags too. The patterns themselves are good but also give ideas for adding pockets to other patterns or even to ready-made clothes.
In Australia, I've bought them at craft shows, but I think I saw them at G Street fabrics in MD; other good fabric stores might stock them.
__________________ When a stupid man is doing something he is ashamed of, he always declares that it is his duty. - George Bernard Shaw
Programs: AA lifetime GOLD, thanks FT, AARP senior member
Posts: 13,844
We wear the jackets for about everything!
Quote:
Originally Posted by carolinelb
oldpenny,
Will your jackets be ones that you wear at trade shows as well as on travel?
I have been wondering about the travel jackets - if you get hot, do you just drape the jacket across your lap? And do all the pockets have closures, so things won't fall out?
I think it would be great to be able to customize your clothing with just the features you require. I have been making clothes for myself most of my life, since I have a lot of trouble finding things long enough, but I haven't really added handy features.
However, I have been planning out a couple of bags that are completely custom for me - with a place for every single thing I need - one will be a dress bag, tiny, and organized, and yet will hold my small camera (for parties and weddings), and one will be an everyday backpack purse, with pockets for everything, including reusable shopping bags, that will be extremely lightweight.
I also want to design a tiny travel cross body bag, and a travel backpack which can transform into a shoulder bag appropriate for a nice restaurant when we get off the Metro.
As the jackets are business attire, we wear them a great deal. I have both skirts and slacks (these have pockets as well) that go with my jackets. Yes some of the pockets are quite secure.
Doing your own sewing is wonderful. I used to sew a great deal but now mostly do repairs and modifications. I have the problem that most items are too long for me. If I get too warm in a meeting, I can take the jacket off and put it on the back of my chair. I can fold it in my lap when seated on an airplane.
I still do carry a purse although there isn't much of value in it. Comfort items snacks and things to pass the time when traveling.
The company policy is that we always have to travel in business attire "As if we will be met with a press conference." I always laugh at that because to this date, I have never been faced with a press conference! The point is that we have to look good.
Radiogirl, Thanks for the suggestion. There are some pretty good things at Saf-T-Pockets - I think my favorites are the Portable Pockets, especially the one that attaches to a bra strap and hangs from the shoulder. I wouldn't wear a money pouch that hangs around the neck, because it would show under my top, but I think this pocket might not show.
Fine tuning our travel clothing/ luggage/supplies/organization is an enjoyable pastime, and it makes such a big difference in how much we enjoy traveling. I think it is just as important as researching and planning our itinerary.
Programs: AA lifetime GOLD, thanks FT, AARP senior member
Posts: 13,844
You are absolutely correct.
Quote:
Originally Posted by carolinelb
Thank you, Oldpenny.
Fine tuning our travel clothing/ luggage/supplies/organization is an enjoyable pastime, and it makes such a big difference in how much we enjoy traveling. I think it is just as important as researching and planning our itinerary.
The additional advantages are that I take the same precautions in my home area. Long gone are the days when we could just leave our purses in our offices where they would be secure. I can't even leave a nice pen on my desk!
Once you are in the habit of keeping your valuables secure, you can use the skill every day. I don't have the time or the mental agility to just think about security when I'm traveling. It has to be a strong habit.
Also long gone are the days when we could go to a party at someone's home and just put our purses down and walk away from them. Stay smart!
We had visitors for a long meeting yesterday. One of the young women was wearing very high heels and was throwing around a big purse. Her attire was more cocktail party than business. When she walked all you could hear was Clomp, clomp and clomp! Not attractive at all. She made fun of my business suit. She was playing the "I'm younger, I'm prettier" game. However when the day was over I was selected to run our part of a big meeting.
We had visitors for a long meeting yesterday. One of the young women was wearing very high heels and was throwing around a big purse. Her attire was more cocktail party than business. When she walked all you could hear was Clomp, clomp and clomp! Not attractive at all. She made fun of my business suit. She was playing the "I'm younger, I'm prettier" game. However when the day was over I was selected to run our part of a big meeting.
She wasn't.
oldpenny, you rock!
__________________
Send lawyers, guns, and money. --Warren Zevon
I think the purse separation fear is very common with older women who fly infrequently. I sit in the bulkhead often and have seen FA's help older couples put their miscellaneous stuff in the overheard but allow the woman to keep a fairly large purse at her feet. (And most older women have fairly large, heavy purses.)
I don't quite understand the theory of putting all your valuables and important things in one bag which screams "everything valuable and important is conveniently right here Take me, take ME!" Convenient yes, smart no.
Escalators and moving sidewalks: As noted, many people do have vision problems but I suspect they are not the ones who come to a dead stop and stare at the amazing moving steps like they've never seen them before.
Sidewalks are a no brainer if you think ahead and realize you're going to either have to use your own legs now, or if you've been walking on the belt realize you are going to slow down when you step off and you need to compensate for that. There is a large segment of the population who lose the ability to read when they step on a moving sidewalk, or perhaps they don't know left from right. If they're between the ages of 12 and 65 and under 300 lbs I think it's okay to roll your bag lightly over their feet while trying to get through.
Escalators, getting off is easy enough, but you do have to plan ahead and realize the machine is going to stop carrying you and you have to walk now. Getting on with a rollerbag and backpack/personal item is difficult for me as I look down the sometimes very, very steep escalator and think about stepping on the crack that will soon become the edge of a step, try to balance my bag on the step behind me, and hold the rail with the arm that has a heavy backpack dangling from it. Briefly, I'm afraid of losing my balance and being thrust down the steps by the weight of my belongings. So I let the people behind me go first so I can take 20 seconds to orient myself to avoid certain death.
What I want to know is what's with people who don't understand that when elevator doors open there will probably be people inside wanting to get out.
I understand the anxiety of being separated from my purse, which usually has all of my valuables. When I travel with my BF he usually gives me his wallet to put in my purse too.
However keeping the area around your feet clear is a real safety issue and I don't believe that any level of personal anxiety outweighs this clear regulation.
Many years ago I worked as a pilot in a charter operation. We pilots also gave the preflight safety briefings and 9 times out of 10 when I had an issue with a passenger blocking the aisles with a purse, it was an older woman, and my observation is the same with fellow airline pax.
Through the airport and on the plane, I wear a small fanny pack secured to my waist, which contains my boarding pass, passport, credit cards, money, any meds, pen, tissues, etc. It can be unclipped and put inside my purse or personal item bag on arrival. My camera case and cell phone are in holders that attach to the fanny pack belt. The seat belt fastens underneath it with no problem, and I have never been asked to remove it in flight.
I like the convenience and security of having my valuables close to my body, and yet I still have my arms/hands free to deal with other luggage.
The additional advantages are that I take the same precautions in my home area. Long gone are the days when we could just leave our purses in our offices where they would be secure. I can't even leave a nice pen on my desk!
Once you are in the habit of keeping your valuables secure, you can use the skill every day. I don't have the time or the mental agility to just think about security when I'm traveling. It has to be a strong habit.
Also long gone are the days when we could go to a party at someone's home and just put our purses down and walk away from them. Stay smart!
The last time I was in Toronto, a woman at the table next to ours at a steakhouse left her handbag on her chair when she and her date stepped outside for 15 minutes. I was so surprised, I had to mention to her that that would not be a good idea in the States, or in most places. She replied that she does it all the time, and has never had a problem!
Here in Silicon Valley, I see women at Target and grocery stores leave their handbags gaping open in the shopping cart, wallets in plain sight, and walk away , even into the next aisle!
I would never, never do such a thing, although this is a fairly safe area. I admit, I do not take your precautions, but the backpack purse I use when not on travel has all the money and credit cards in a zipped pocket which is against my back. I do not leave my equipment out in class when I leave the room, just as I would not leave out drawings which have taken many hours, lest some accident occur. Just cautious - the most cautious in my family, but you are definitely more cautious than I!
People like that seem not to feel they have any substantive value - attention-grabbing superficiality is what others see. How can anyone take them seriously? I am glad that at your company, intelligence and good sense are valued. Teasing you about your appearance does sound as though she found your professionalism threatening.
Programs: AA lifetime GOLD, thanks FT, AARP senior member
Posts: 13,844
I saw a really good example of poor purse management yesterday. I woman was loading up her car with groceries and children and left her purse on the bumper of her large SUV. Several of us waved her down. She didn't seem surprised. Mother fatigue!
I hope I'm not old enough to be described as a woman of a "certain age" but I'm uncomfortable leaving my purse unattended in a public place. With few exceptions, I'm touching it at all times, even if it's just sitting at my feet.
These days, a lot of fashionable purses don't zip shut, so--safety/theft issues aside--I'd be concerned about putting my favorite purses in the overhead bin given that "items may have shifted during flight" (as we're so frequently reminded). I'd hate to run the risk that my purse was jostled or tipped over and things spilled out.
