“The slower we move, the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living.”
– Ryan Bingham in Up in the Air
Does your luggage weigh you down? “You know how much time you lose by checking in,” Ryan Bingham asks new recruit Natalie Keener in the film Up in the Air. “35 minutes a flight. I travel 270 days a year. That’s 157 hours. That makes seven days. You willing to throw away an entire week on that?”
Take a page from Ryan on how to save time and lighten you load when traveling for business with his top tips on what to wear and how to avoid packing things you think you will need, but never use.
1. Pack your belt, don’t wear it. You’re holding up the line for an accessory. Watching you fumble with a buckle makes my eyes bleed.
2. Your watch won’t set off the metal detector. So stop putting it in your shoe.
3. Tourists are amateurs. They carry way too much electronic equipment and their brains are on vacation. You see a sun visor—go to the next line.
4. Please, for the love of God, stop waving goodbye to your family as you’re going through the metal detector. Kiss your loved one at the curb and be done with it.
5. Pick up your trays on the other side of the conveyor belt. Don’t cause a traffic jam.
6. More people to avoid:
–the guy with the oversized musical instrument.
— the high school softball team that’s too excited to be traveling.
–the angry senior citizen who will get into an argument with the TSA officer.
–the stoner… obvious pat down.