Recorded in the Courtyard in Northwest Houston, we look at the decisions forced on travelers by the TSA’s restrictions around carry-on liquids and gels. Is it a trade-off between safety and vanity? Are frequent travelers really that shallow? Also, I talk about how “luggage economics” made me trim my technology load when packing for my recent vacation in Sweden. Here’s a direct link to the podcast file.


Here are the show notes from TravelCommons podcast #44:

  • Intro music — Warmth by Makkina
  • Recorded in the Courtyard in Northwest Houston
  • Back in Houston again this week. Started last week in Houston and then went out to San Francisco where I was joined by my wife
  • Stayed at three Renaissance Hotels while in the Bay Area; my wife rated the sheets at the Renaissance Stanford Court on Nob Hill the best
  • TSA carry-on regulations are impacting the carry-out trade at Napa and Sonoma wineries — direct link to a Flickr picture of a sign on the front door of Arrowood Winery
  • Bridge Music — That Ming Thing by Cagey House
  • The blog entries between episodes is generating some great comments and discussions, and seem to be a good complement to the podcasts
  • A listener tells the story of making top-tier status on Delta on an Atlanta-Omaha commuter jet run
  • Bridge Music — Break In by Mark Jungers
  • The TSA restrictions on carry-on liquids and gels forces travelers to choose between lost time and lost looks
  • The choice between checking luggage or leaving behind toiletries has much more impact on frequent travelers than on leisure travelers
  • Recapping the Debating States of Matter With The TSA blog post
  • Listeners urge me to give Eco-Dent tooth powder another chance
  • The ban is much harder on women than men — Hilary Baumann of the Clothing Cult blog totals up the cost of banned make-up
  • Commentators cast it as a safety vs. vanity choice, but no one feels that the TSA’s new regime is making them any safer
  • Bridge Music — When You Hide by Likewater
  • I lightened my technology load on my recent vacation in Sweden — I left my laptop home
  • On last year’s vacation to Switzerland, France and Hungary, I used it to store digital pictures, check e-mail, and produce TravelCommons episodes #8 and #9
  • Skipped making a vacation podcast and survived just fine with only my BlackBerry and my Motorola V551 mobile phone — they “just worked”
  • Closing music — iTunes link to Pictures of You by Evangeline
  • Bridge music from the Podsafe Audio
  • Feedback at comments[at]travelcommons.com, the comment board on podcastalley.com, or right here in the comments section below
  • Direct link to the show

3 comments on “Podcast #44 – Dump Bucket of the Vanities, Leaving Behind the PC

  1. I believe that the Apple iPod Camera Connector (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wo/3.RSLID?mco=55EFC253&nplm=M9861G%2FA) is compatible with the 4th generation iPod (which has the color screen if I remember correctly). I have one that I got to use in the unlikely event that I left the laptop at home. I have not made extensive use of it but it worked with both of my digital cameras like a snap.

    EVDO is very nice but terribly addictive

    to combat spam on wordpress get the “Akismet Spam” plug-in, it works very well

  2. Rob Safuto says:

    Just found the show via a recommendation from a friend. I’m traveling regularly on flights from Newark these days and I find the lengths they are going to at security to be ridiculous as well.

    I’m all for increased security but they need to be smarter. Hopefully they will soon allow very small amounts of liquid or gel.

    One unintended benefit of the new regulations is the fact that I no longer hear, “This is a very full flight, please place smaller carry ons under your seat.” There always seems to be spare room in the overheads now.

Comments are closed.