After many trips overseas I can recall all my problems, only one problem on one trip in ten, but one problem too many. These include:
1 At airport of departure country not knowing my duty free allowance.
2 Leaving behind my duty free package in the overhead luggage locker.
3 Taking somebody else's by mistake.
4 Somebody else taking mine by mistake.
5 Leaving my duty free in the boot of a taxi from the airport which had lots of bags belonging to the taxi driver.
6 Not buying any duty free because I don't drink then realising my host would have liked a bottle for the welcome dinner when I reached their home.
7 Not knowing whether the drink at the airport was a saving worth the extra cost of a porter/taxi or the inconvenience of carrying the extra weight.
8 The airport duty free tote bag had flimsy handles which cut my wrists and broke, when I could have brought a bag with good handles from home.
9 Packing a bottle in the middle of my suitcase and it broke leaving me with no drink and stained and smelly clothes.
10 An opened bottle half drunk at destination leaked on the way home.
11 Regret not buying more of bargain when I realised after we separated at airport that one of the family (husband wife and teenage son) had a third allowance.
12 Lots of drink at home, not sure if we have lots of rum but no vodka or vice versa.
13 Not knowing which brand to buy because we don't normally buy that sort of alcohol.
14 Great offer of a free umbrella with one drink and a free set of glasses with another. Have to decide in a hurry if we really need the product and is the free gift free or is the drink overpriced to include it.
Before you go to the airport plan your purchases. Who needs gifts? How many are travelling? How much can you carry? Who are you visiting? Do you need gifts for hosts at your destination? Do you know what is rare or valued in that country, company, family?
Check your duty free allowance. Write it down on a piece of paper in your bag's front pocket. Assuming you plan to carry a duty free it in a bag, have it attached to something you will not leave behind, such as a large first name label, umbrella, coat with a belt.
Solutions to the above problems. Solutions:
Check your home country duty free allowance. (For outgoing journey journey.)
Check your destination(s) duty free allowance. (For return journey and leaving destination on side trips and stopovers to a third country or circular trip with hops.)
Check your home drinks cabinet to see what you need and what you have too much of from previous trips.
Check your calendar - is there a family wedding, funeral, exam celebration, New Year's Eve party, dinner party, family reunion or other event at which you will need drink.
Do you have foreign guests who will drink something you don't have (e.g. sake for Japanese visitors).
Do you need a spare in a country you are visiting (e.g. Chinese or Japanese where you might be presented with a gift and need to reciprocate.)
Would a box of five miniature bottles or perfumes enable you to present something to all the family or all the colleagues instead of singling out the host?
Do you need a presentation box or wrapping paper or a birthday card or wedding congratulations card from home to re-wrap the gift at destination?
List your home drinks supply, oversupply or needs in a small hand back diary kept in a regular place such as right hand pocket, or on mobile phone, so you can find the list easily. Check your local paper or cut out the page with supermarket offers. It might be cheaper or easier to buy from home before leaving (especially if in a hurry or stuck in traffic). Keep the newspaper cutting with you.
Instead or as backup you could use your phone or computer to take a picture of your home drinks (or family or host's drinks shelf), or your supermarket shelf, and email this to yourself, then read it an airport lounge or in a cafe at the destination.
Find out if your host/ family are not fussy and just want 'the cheapest whisky' or 'any bottle of plonk. Or do they have a yearning for something special, my favourite is such and such a brand - if you can get it / I only drink ... / 'I've never tried a malt whisky', 'sake would make a change', 'ooh - this is an expensive bottle! Thanks so much.'
1 At airport of departure country not knowing my duty free allowance.
2 Leaving behind my duty free package in the overhead luggage locker.
3 Taking somebody else's by mistake.
4 Somebody else taking mine by mistake.
5 Leaving my duty free in the boot of a taxi from the airport which had lots of bags belonging to the taxi driver.
6 Not buying any duty free because I don't drink then realising my host would have liked a bottle for the welcome dinner when I reached their home.
7 Not knowing whether the drink at the airport was a saving worth the extra cost of a porter/taxi or the inconvenience of carrying the extra weight.
8 The airport duty free tote bag had flimsy handles which cut my wrists and broke, when I could have brought a bag with good handles from home.
9 Packing a bottle in the middle of my suitcase and it broke leaving me with no drink and stained and smelly clothes.
10 An opened bottle half drunk at destination leaked on the way home.
11 Regret not buying more of bargain when I realised after we separated at airport that one of the family (husband wife and teenage son) had a third allowance.
12 Lots of drink at home, not sure if we have lots of rum but no vodka or vice versa.
13 Not knowing which brand to buy because we don't normally buy that sort of alcohol.
14 Great offer of a free umbrella with one drink and a free set of glasses with another. Have to decide in a hurry if we really need the product and is the free gift free or is the drink overpriced to include it.
Before you go to the airport plan your purchases. Who needs gifts? How many are travelling? How much can you carry? Who are you visiting? Do you need gifts for hosts at your destination? Do you know what is rare or valued in that country, company, family?
Check your duty free allowance. Write it down on a piece of paper in your bag's front pocket. Assuming you plan to carry a duty free it in a bag, have it attached to something you will not leave behind, such as a large first name label, umbrella, coat with a belt.
Solutions to the above problems. Solutions:
Check your home country duty free allowance. (For outgoing journey journey.)
Check your destination(s) duty free allowance. (For return journey and leaving destination on side trips and stopovers to a third country or circular trip with hops.)
Check your home drinks cabinet to see what you need and what you have too much of from previous trips.
Check your calendar - is there a family wedding, funeral, exam celebration, New Year's Eve party, dinner party, family reunion or other event at which you will need drink.
Do you have foreign guests who will drink something you don't have (e.g. sake for Japanese visitors).
Do you need a spare in a country you are visiting (e.g. Chinese or Japanese where you might be presented with a gift and need to reciprocate.)
Would a box of five miniature bottles or perfumes enable you to present something to all the family or all the colleagues instead of singling out the host?
Do you need a presentation box or wrapping paper or a birthday card or wedding congratulations card from home to re-wrap the gift at destination?
List your home drinks supply, oversupply or needs in a small hand back diary kept in a regular place such as right hand pocket, or on mobile phone, so you can find the list easily. Check your local paper or cut out the page with supermarket offers. It might be cheaper or easier to buy from home before leaving (especially if in a hurry or stuck in traffic). Keep the newspaper cutting with you.
Instead or as backup you could use your phone or computer to take a picture of your home drinks (or family or host's drinks shelf), or your supermarket shelf, and email this to yourself, then read it an airport lounge or in a cafe at the destination.
Find out if your host/ family are not fussy and just want 'the cheapest whisky' or 'any bottle of plonk. Or do they have a yearning for something special, my favourite is such and such a brand - if you can get it / I only drink ... / 'I've never tried a malt whisky', 'sake would make a change', 'ooh - this is an expensive bottle! Thanks so much.'
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