On my last trip, I encountered two problems that frequent travelers often face. I hear the stories all the time, but this was the first time I had experienced either - lost luggage and an irate fellow traveler.

Before entering security, I browsed the newsstand for some onboard reading. After making my purchases, I was strolling to the security line, when all of a sudden, I saw my first airport freak out. I have been in a lot of airports around the world, large and small, and considered myself lucky that I never saw any violent situations break out. And, luckily for me, this was before security, before boarding and relatively easy to handle. A young man, who was apparently quite angry with a particular airline, began screaming obscenities (directed at the airline and those of us traveling) and yelling about destroying us all. He was waving an “air gun” (his fingers pointed in the shape of a gun) and “shooting” everyone around him. It seemed like his tirade was going on for a particularly long time before about 10 cop cars showed up and escorted the handcuffed man off the premises. It was a scary situation.

After a long flight without any further interruptions, I was anxious to get back to my hotel and shower and rest. Since I can never seem to figure out the meaning of “packing light” (I often feel the need to bring at least 5 pairs of shoes…) I had checked my bag. Well, guess what happened to me while I was standing at baggage claim. Everyone around me was grabbing their bags and I just stood there, waiting for my suitcase. But, alas, it was still in my connecting airport. It arrived to me late on my second night. And, having never experienced lost luggage, I had no back-up, had not thought to throw some of my essentials in my carry-on bag. Essentially, I had nothing but the clothes on my back. I did not have to go for too long without my belongings and the airline was extremely helpful in locating my things. Bottom line - it happens and this time it happened to me! I will probably alter my packing methods for subsequent trips. And I have a better understanding why Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO, never checks his luggage!

I know these are only minor road bumps that people experience when traveling. And I know the more and more I travel, the more times I will experience these and other similar problems. These two instances changed the way I will travel next time and definitely helped me become a smarter traveler. Hopefully, I will be able to become a smarter packer too! (I’m open to packing suggestions and tips!)

-Kimberly Krol, circulation and public relations executive

Over the weekend a good friend of mine came for a visit and stayed in my apartment in New York. On Saturday night, we opted for a girls night out and saw The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center followed by a late dinner at the Ritz Carlton. A wonderful evening - which made me think I was set up for a great nights sleep, but wrong!

As my apartment is not exactly palatial in size, you can hear everything that goes on no matter where you are. I woke the next morning not feeling terribly rested. I then recalled my friend waking me up in the middle of the night and asking if I was okay and telling me that I should think of sugar plum fairies from the Nutcracker. When she awoke, I asked if that had really happened. She said yes and could not believe that I was in a deep sleep when she said that to me. Apparently, I had been tossing and turning and even screamed out once or twice! I thought for a moment and did recall dreaming of fighting and hearing the theme music to Pirates of the Caribbean. We had watched that movie the night before. On the upside, perhaps I was dreaming I was wrestling Johnny Depp!

I have no idea why I was dreaming of fighting. My friend attributed it to stress, which I can understand, and I think it may have had to do with eating a late dinner. What alarmed me was that I was really in a deep sleep when she tried to wake me, which got me thinking of sleepwalkers and how often that must occur and the danger of waking that person. I’ve certainly heard of some very funny stories of people sleepwalking and everything turning out okay, but scary nonetheless. What we are capable of doing in our unconscious is sometimes more mind blowing than what we do when we are awake! One funny story of sleep talking I can remember is when I shared a room on a trip with a friend of mine from Sweden who started talking in the middle of the night. I was alarmed at first and started to answer back, but realized she was talking in Swedish! So there really was not much I could do at that point!

I’m sure all of you have interesting sleepwalking stories you can share or insight into the subconscious you can enlighten me with. Are dreams really related to stress? Or is dreaming just another way for our mind to wander when the rest of us is sleeping?

-Alex Young, vice president and associate publisher

As we move past Thanksgiving and into the Christmas holiday season, I just want to fill you in on one last turkey event before we move on. For the past 11+ years, I have been organizing the annual Turkey Bowl at Cream Ridge Golf Club, where the boldest and most adventurous head out to play golf the day after Thanksgiving. Those silly souls may go to malls on Black Friday; we layer ourselves in shirts, sweaters and windbreakers to play golf.

This year was mild by past Turkey Bowl standards - only about 35-40 degrees. Last year was like playing in the summertime. Two years ago was one of the coldest, well under thirty degrees, and Bill Marine, Cream Ridge’s PGA professional, said we were the only guys on the course. Bill is a great guy and knows we are reliable - showing up in any weather with between 2 and 3 foursomes.

Past winners have included then Marketing Director of Finnair Antero Palo, Advertising Executive from Media First International Jim Muck, and yours truly (I have won three times in the past 11 years). This year the winner was Paul Desantis, Executive from Conrail, affectionately named “Pauli Bag of Walnuts” by the group.

The group is concerned that my brother, Gerry Gallagher of Cap Gemini, has only won once in 11 years. Located in Dallas, he comes from out of town to play in the Turkey Bowl and plays with a mix-matched set of clubs that usually includes a ladies’ driver.

Absent from the list is John Ecklund of IBM. John was not playing his best game on Friday. All the guys, including Rich, little Rich and Mikie had a great time!

We have played in subfreezing weather when all the ponds at Cream Ridge were frozen (some interesting shots off the pond ice have been known to happen). And, normally, Mr. Jameson is there to help us keep warm.

We end the day with a stop at the townie bar near Cream Ridge formerly called The Outpost. Sadly, the region has gone upscale - it used to be that the patrons outnumbered the teeth at the bar.

It’s a great event and a wonderful time. We often wonder what the heck we are doing as we are freezing on the first hole, but we always fight on.

So, here’s to kicking off the holiday season. I have to get out and hang my lights like Clark W. Griswold in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!

-Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO

Each week for eFlyer I look at all the latest fare sales, and I’ve noticed that advertisements for fares seem to have moved back to the bad old days. That is, there’s one “bargain” price in the big print, and then surcharges in small print. It’s one thing when the charges add another 10 or 15 percent to the fare, but another thing entirely when they almost double the fare. Online booking sites are pretty good about showing you the bottom line up front, but I seem to remember a day when you weren’t allowed to run ‘teasers’ when the prices bore so little resemblance to the actual fare. How come they can get away with that again?

Another thing I’m noticing is that the deals on SkyAuction don’t seem to be as good as they used to be. Low opening prices attract more bidders on any auction site. On eBay, to make sure you (as a seller) don’t lose your shirt you either set a reserve price, or start the bid at the minimum price you can afford to get. But on SkyAuction, you notice that there are “service charges” posted to add to the winning bid. Those make the airline surcharges look modest. For example, you’ll see an airfare with a $300 service charge that will be added to whatever you bid, or a hotel ‘won’ for $75 a night that carries a $125 per night surcharge.

I got some good deals on SkyAuction a few years ago, but I haven’t seen any lately that seem to be much of a savings–at least not if you shop around the non-auction travel sites. Also, as with eBay, SkyAuction seems to have been taken over by merchants selling packages that aren’t really much of a deal–just distressed goods or overstock at a small discount. Those wild and wooly days of the early Internet auctions were fun; today, not so much.

–Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer

After all the Thanksgiving stuffing (not just of the turkey) I was thinking some more about Alex’s blog of Thanksgiving Eve (and Fran’s tongue-in-cheek suggestion to have a plate of air to go with your cup of hot water sounded about right). Many nutritionists and diets recommend a cup of hot water–although usually with lemon. I do often drink that, in the morning or after a meal, although I must confess that I usually add some sweetener to it.

Fortunately, it’s a common enough practice that rarely do waiters nowadays look askance at you, but not so long ago, the reaction used to be that you were trying to get something for nothing. If you ask for a cup of tea with lemon, tea on the side, you get charged for the tea. If you ask for a cup of water, as when you ask for a glass of water, it’s free. And if you think that’s a fine line to draw, you haven’t waited tables and seen someone order a cup of hot water and then sneak their own teabag out of their purse. So before I forget: If you order a cup of hot water in a restaurant, please don’t forget to tip as if you’d gotten a cup of tea!

I had a friend who didn’t drink and always ordered a glass of water with extra lemon at restaurants. Then he would add sugar and proceed to make his own lemonade. It wasn’t as if he asked first if the restaurant HAD lemonade, so I was embarrassed because it seemed just plain cheap.

Nevertheless, I think that’s common with all of us in one way or another. When we travel, we go through money as if it were, well, water, so we really like those freebies. Free coffee and tea in the room is one of the most popular hotel amenities–even if those little coffeemakers don’t heat water to the proper temperature and don’t make a decent cup of coffee, it’s free! Yay! And I often travel with powdered Crystal Light iced tea mix so that I can turn a glass of water, and the hotel’s ice, into something approximating a soft drink, even though the little foil covers sometimes get punctured in the suitcase and sprinkle powder all over.

Before the pretty common advent of in-room coffeemakers, I used to travel with one of those little immersion coils so that I could boil water. I’d bring tea bags, instant coffee, instant soup. Scrounge some crackers from your lunchtime soup, or fruit from the bowl on the front desk, and you’ve got a late-night snack (or, sometimes, dinner after a heavy lunch).

I really was going to blog about food today; I’m in the middle of wrapping up a cookbook manuscript, so it’s much on my mind. But after all the Thanksgiving feasting, a cup of water and a plate of air sounds just about right. Maybe tomorrow.

–Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer