Prohibited carry-on items

So much for packing light and carrying everything in a bag that fits in the overhead bin. Thanks to the Muslim fanatics just nailed in Britain, the only way to avoid checking luggage now is to either not brush your teeth or to buy new cosmetics after arrival.

America's TSA has provided this list of prohibited items for carry-on and it's a doozie. It's easier to list what you can bring. The only liquids that are allowed now are the following:

*Small amounts of Baby formula and breast milk if a baby or small child is traveling
*Liquid prescription medicine with a name that matches the passenger’s ticket
*Up to 8 oz. of liquid or gel low blood sugar treatment
*Up to 4 oz. of essential non-prescription liquid medications
*Gel-filled bras and similar prostethics worn for medical reasons

So the real question is, are the airlines going to now give you more than a teensy cup of liquid to drink on their desert-cabin-air flights?

See you at baggage claim...

Packing tips contest winners

Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine ran a contest asking for the best packing tips from readers. At this link you can find the entries from the five winners.

This is a frugal and sensible bunch, so the advice is good and it doesn't involve going out and buying a bunch of expensive travel gadgets. Some of these concern packing for kids and one involves being ready to go at a moment's notice, but they're all worthwhile.

Here's one of my favorites, since it reinforces the idea of everything needing to be worth its weight. "Bring only the beauty essentials, and look for products that have dual functions. For example, take a tinted moisturizer with sunscreen--it's like having foundation, lotion, and sunscreen all in one."

Legally loading up your iPod or MP3 player

In the old days we carted cassettes around with us from country to country. Then it was CD Walkman type players, which were better, but still a bit of a pain. Now that you can carry hours and hours of tunes in digital form, there's more room in the day pack and less to carry around.

But loading up your music collection still takes some planning and effort, especially if you plan to be gone for months, a year, or more. You can burn from your collection, you can borrow from others, or download things from dubious sites that my well infect your computer with more than you bargained for.

There's a middle ground way though to get lots of new and interesting music and still be legal. First of all, there's an unheralded section of Amazon that offers free music downloads. Not much gets added on a regular basis, but there are plenty of gems posted.

For both the short term and the long term, it's hard to beat the value of eMusic. You get freebies for signing up at the link below, plus it's only $9.95 a month for 30 downloads. It's mostly indie stuff, so you're not going to find the latest boy band or radio fodder, but an impressive collection that keeps on growing. Best of all, you're not locked into Apple's system--tracks work on any MP3 player, not just the iPod, and with no usage restrictions.

25 FREE Downloads. eMusic for your iPod® or any MP3 player