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Monday, June 6, 2016

Travelling and Keys for suitcases

Where is the key to this suitcase? Sort out your keys well in advance.

1 SUITCASE KEYS
a) Storing and finding
i) My system is to do what the shops do. Keep the key which came with the suitcase attached to the suitcase handle.

ii) I also used to have a plan to keep suitcase keys in the pack with my passport so I didn't get to the airport and find I'd rushed out to the taxi and left my keys at home in a drawer.

iii) Other people keep all their keys in one bunch in one place. But you must keep them in a place where you can find them.

iv) You could also attach a note to the suitcase to say that the key is inside in the inside pocket or that the key is in a top drawer in a desk either at home in the bedroom or study or wherever you keep it.

b) Buying Keys
Note that special keys which can be opened by US customs for security checks are required for the USA. Check which keys your airline or destination requires.

Duplicate keys
( D u p l i c a t e - spell check likes d e l i c a t e)
When storing  (s t o r i n g not soaring) the keys you may wish (w i s h not with) to keep both keys at home together, either in a top drawer or a key box hanging on the wall. You might label keys or colour code them and label them key one and key two.

To colour code the locks and keys if they are plain metal and you have several, paint nail varnish onto them. At one time you could only buy red and pink and orange nail polish, but now you can buy nail polish in blue and green and black and yellow at low prices.

A good system if two of you are travelling is to give the duplicate second key to your partner. That way if one of you mislays the keys the other person can quickly supply a duplicate when you are trying to check in hurriedly at the airport without keeping others waiting whilst you hunt.

Back home again, if you find key one on the floor or in a drawer it is easier to find out which person has the second key and know where to look.

Another solution is to you leave one key at home. That helps if you get home with a locked suitcase and find the key to the locked suitcase is left behind in your holiday flat, the coat you left behind or lost, or in one of a myriad pockets. You go straight to key two and start unpacking. When you later find missing key one in your inside jacket pocket, or the purse with your foreign currency, you can then match up the two keys.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

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