Another travel tip (this one’s from Deb): put a very visible bit of something on your bags, ESPECIALLY checked ones. Deb creates puffy yarn balls in light blue and pink (that match nobody’s luggage colors). Helps your luggage stand out in bus racks, coming around the baggage carousel, and in a big pile of “all the bags that were supposed to go from Chicago to Vancouver but went to Toronto first sorry about that”. The balls may only last a half-dozen flights, but they’re easy to make and degrade gracefully.

I have observed fellow travelers who use fluorescent duct tape to mark luggage.

For those who think “I never check my luggage” — you never checked your luggage YET. Be prepared. Gate agents have full discretion as to what boards with you, and demonstrating to them that your bag does, indeed, fit into the YOUR BAG MUST FIT HERE thingie is irrelevant, based on recent airlines-from-hell stories. 😐