Hi, > I was wondering what you will be doing Cotty, Jostein etc? And also what >those who have done international travel in the past have done?
you might have to bite the bullet and pay the excess baggage allowance. I have travelled several times with excess weight, and not been charged, so it's a bit hit-and-miss. Here's what I do. I try to travel light because I'm the poor sod who has to carry it all. This means I try to keep it down to one checked bag and one carry-on. The bag I check is a Pelican 1550, which is equipped with the Peli 4-barrel combination locks. I put most of my cameras and lenses in there, with my clothes. Carry-on is either a LowePro Street & Field backpack, or a Domke F2. In these I put my film - up to 100 rolls - and a couple of cameras and lenses, so if the Pelican goes missing I can at least take photographs. I keep the films in see-through zip-lock plastic bags and take them out of their plastic tubs to reduce the bulk and weight, and so they're easy to inspect. As well as your carry-on bag you can take a camera or 2 hanging from your neck or shoulder. In your situation I would buy a Pelican case that will fit the laptop and check it through. It should be impervious to the baggage handlers' rough treatment. You may also need a jeweller's screwdriver kit to tighten things up at the other end. The aeroplane vibrations can loosen screws. Another option is to dispense with the laptop altogether, and come to an arrangement with somebody at GFM to let you transfer pictures from your camera to CDs, or some smaller device. -- Cheers, Bob
