Packing light - friendly WARNING to fellow travelers who travel light.

We all know how Rick Steves teaches us to travel light, and he is, of
course, correct. However, there seems to be a new danger in doing so.
I stayed in Paris for a month with nothing but a small backpack.
When I came to CDG to return to USA, the agents were very suspicious
that I possibly could have stayed for a month without having to check
any baggage. It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?

Bradwell Jackson

"Bradwell Jackson" wrote in message
om...
We all know how Rick Steves teaches us to travel light, and he is, of
course, correct. However, there seems to be a new danger in doing so.
I stayed in Paris for a month with nothing but a small backpack.
When I came to CDG to return to USA, the agents were very suspicious
that I possibly could have stayed for a month without having to check
any baggage. It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?

Travelling light 'without good reason' (e.g. a businessman on a flying
visit) is one of the criteria for security alert - if you are a bomber on
reconnaissance or on mission, you are unlikely to be schlepping a big
suitcase. Basically, if your appearance, behaviour or travel pattern don't
match the profile of a bona-fide tourist, you can expect to be singled out
for particular attention (which in the present anti-terrorism climate can be
thorough and unpleasant).

Alec

(Bradwell Jackson) wrote:

We all know how Rick Steves teaches us to travel light, and he is, of
course, correct. However, there seems to be a new danger in doing so.
I stayed in Paris for a month with nothing but a small backpack.
When I came to CDG to return to USA, the agents were very suspicious
that I possibly could have stayed for a month without having to check
any baggage. It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?
Bradwell Jackson

Yes, it happened to me at Gatwick once about 4 years ago. I think I
was in the UK and Ireland for 7 to 10 days and only brought a medium
size duffel bag. The agent asked me; "Is this all you brought for
your entire trip?" I explained that I tended to travel with less
baggage every year. (for trips longer that one week, I only take half
of what I need and find a launderette somewhere along the way).
It wasn't a major inconvenience, as he only asked me the one question
and then sent me on my way.

K


http://www.regimechangeusa.org

"Bradwell Jackson" wrote in message
om...
We all know how Rick Steves teaches us to travel light, and he is, of
course, correct. However, there seems to be a new danger in doing so.
I stayed in Paris for a month with nothing but a small backpack.
When I came to CDG to return to USA, the agents were very suspicious
that I possibly could have stayed for a month without having to check
any baggage. It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?

I was once questioned for awhile on a return flight and then told that it
was due to my not have much baggage for someone that had been away for two
weeks. I had actually been away for three weeks, but wasn't eager to correct
the woman! I didn't think I had an extraordinarily small amount of stuff for
my trip--particularly as it was during warm weather and summer clothes pack
small.

Lana

In article ,
says...
We all know how Rick Steves teaches us to travel light, and he is, of
course, correct. However, there seems to be a new danger in doing so.
I stayed in Paris for a month with nothing but a small backpack.
When I came to CDG to return to USA, the agents were very suspicious
that I possibly could have stayed for a month without having to check
any baggage. It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?

Not when I went to the UK last February. I carried one bag (a Rick
Steves bag actually), and neither the UK nor US immigration officials
mentioned the quantity of baggage.

===
Steve
Shoreline, Washington USA

12 Jun 2004, 1640 PDT

A relative of mine spent a year sailing in the Med with his family (don't
get jealous - I have already exhausted the jealousy quotient on this one).
But he had to go from Greece or hereabouts to London for business.
Traveling with a very-well used passport, carrying only a leather knapsack,
and probably looking like a wind-burned Robinson Crusoe, he was subjected to
a strip-search and 4 hour or so interogation at Heathrow. Now this was
about 2 years ago and the climate has lessened somewhat, but in this case
packing light did not serve him well.

"Stephen Dailey" wrote in message
om...
In article ,
says...
We all know how Rick Steves teaches us to travel light, and he is, of
course, correct. However, there seems to be a new danger in doing so.
I stayed in Paris for a month with nothing but a small backpack.
When I came to CDG to return to USA, the agents were very suspicious
that I possibly could have stayed for a month without having to check
any baggage. It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?

Not when I went to the UK last February. I carried one bag (a Rick
Steves bag actually), and neither the UK nor US immigration officials
mentioned the quantity of baggage.

===
Steve
Shoreline, Washington USA

12 Jun 2004, 1640 PDT

In article ,
(Bradwell Jackson) wrote:

We all know how Rick Steves teaches us to travel light, and he is, of
course, correct. However, there seems to be a new danger in doing so.
I stayed in Paris for a month with nothing but a small backpack.
When I came to CDG to return to USA, the agents were very suspicious
that I possibly could have stayed for a month without having to check
any baggage. It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?

I have been traveling by air both in the United States and abroad for
many years, and that has always been a concern.

"Stephen Dailey" wrote in message
om...
In article ,
says...
We all know how Rick Steves teaches us to travel light, and he is, of
course, correct. However, there seems to be a new danger in doing so.
I stayed in Paris for a month with nothing but a small backpack.
When I came to CDG to return to USA, the agents were very suspicious
that I possibly could have stayed for a month without having to check
any baggage. It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?

Not when I went to the UK last February. I carried one bag (a Rick
Steves bag actually), and neither the UK nor US immigration officials
mentioned the quantity of baggage.

Quality outweighed quantity maybe ? :-)

Hi,

I pack light.

but I take a thin/cheap/nylon duffel and pack it inside my main bag.

that way I've got a bag to carry back stuff and for short day trips and
stuff.

Stephen Dailey wrote:
In article ,
says...

We all know how Rick Steves teaches us to travel light, and he is, of
course, correct. However, there seems to be a new danger in doing so.
I stayed in Paris for a month with nothing but a small backpack.
When I came to CDG to return to USA, the agents were very suspicious
that I possibly could have stayed for a month without having to check
any baggage. It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?


Not when I went to the UK last February. I carried one bag (a Rick
Steves bag actually), and neither the UK nor US immigration officials
mentioned the quantity of baggage.

===
Steve
Shoreline, Washington USA

12 Jun 2004, 1640 PDT

--
MICROSOFT WINDOWS 2003 ENTERPRISE SERVER W/ 25 LICENSES
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It seem now that packing light might tag you as a
security concern, unless of course it was just me. Has this happened
to anybody else?


Yes, it has happened to me a few times. Another "red alert" for customs is
that I don't buy much when I travel and therefore have little to declare when
reentering the US. This has caused my luggage to be searched.
Susie Q