Tea in the suitcase
I’ve been travel on a lot from Phoenix to Chicago for work, and I put some of my tea tins in a sealed bag in my checked luggage. Imagine my surprise to see the 2 oz of DavidsTea Orange Blossom all OVER my suitcase, while the tea tin is still in the sealed bag ( albeit empty).
I have spent HOURS trying to get tea leaves out of my clothes, my suitcase…all in a hotel room (guess I should tell the hotel they need to use some draino on the bathtub…because I couldn’t figure out where else to dump that much).
My mom, who works at an airport, tells me that TSA folks aren’t so bad….but the one that decided to dump tea all over my suitcase, then return the tin back into the bag the tins were in…well, there’s no excuse. There wasn’t even a ‘we checked your bag’ note in the suitcase.
I’ll be bringing ALL of my tea in my carry-on after this.
When I moved, I took tea tins in my carry on and wrapped the seals of the tins in washi tape, which actually worked out pretty well. When I go home for Christmas, I won’t actually be flying, but I’ll probably only bring maybe 2 ounces of tea, as I’ve been slowly sending all my tea orders and swaps to my parent’s house in preparation. Traveling with tins is kind of a pain. I’m so sorry about your tea. Hopefully your clothes smelled good at least…
EDIT: And just to avoid sounding disgustingly twee, I used washi tape, because I wanted to be able to remove it from the tin without leaving residue and it was Christmas themed tape in July, so I thought I might as well use it.
I didn’t even know what washi tape was! I would love to use tape that won’t leave a residue!
It’s like decorative paper tape that originated in Japan. Pintrest loves sticking it to EVERYTHING because it’s cute and really trendy. However, the tape itself, even without the designs, is really nice, because it has a flexible water-proofish exterior and almost never leaves any residue. The only thing I really use it for, because I’m not really looking to cover my entire house in decorative tape, is for letter writing, to tape down the envelope, for which it works incredibly well. You can almost remove it without damaging the paper at all.
I’m a flight attendant and whenever I have to check a bag I make sure to take out anything that I know might go missing. Sometimes it’s not TSA’s fault sometimes it’s just that your bag got caught on something and somehow got ripped to shreds…. (My aunt borrowed one of my suitcases and that’s what happened. luckily they replaced it though).
But yea. Only carry what you really need on your trips. I only carry tea bags with me to work. Because of the amount we move around it’s too hard to keep track of loose leaf.
I think TSA is horrible and the job they do makes me feel more harassed and stressed out than it does safe. A lot of them are jerks who don’t know the guidelines they are supposed to follow and make up the rules on a whim as they go.
That being said, baggage handlers are known to lift items from luggage too and that sounds more like the work of a fumbling baggage handler who thought there may be a pricey item in the tin than a TSA agent who neglected to put a slip in your bag.
Go answer your message so that I can send out your tea! haha And not all TSA is bad. I’ve met some really nice TSA in all the traveling I’ve done. There are however, some that really make you want to cry.
Where can you even find washi tape? it sounds ideal!
Well, real washi tape is all over Etsy imported from Japan or where-ever. This was rip-off washi tape, bought at Michaels, because I’m cheap. It’s the same stuff though. Bought the real deal for some thank you notes (on clearance!) and didn’t notice a difference. It’s kind of expensive, but it’s one of the Pintrest things that is actually pretty useful.
yeah, they carry cheap knockoff washi-style tape at places like Staples and Office Max too sometimes! i’ve been meaning to get some…
My friend opened her suitcase after a trip in the US, and no joke, all her underwear was missing (she put them compartment in her suitcase, they had to of pulled it out) and a stuff bear was gone.
I got searched hardcore when I was activating my US visa. I just had 7 days worth of clothes and tea on me while everything was being shipped. They opened everything, even my tea and shaking it around to make sure I didn’t hide anything inside. I get it, but at the same time, I’m just a nice Canadian!
her friend on the US side was able to retrieve the stuff bear at the airport. Yeah, was pretty creepy.
I usually get inspected when I go through customs as I travel a lot. I have just started to buy teas, or pack them and seal the teas up. That way they at least know it should be what is listed on the ingredients. Then when they open it up it matches exactly with what the ingredientssay and then they usually let me go through with tea in my carry on.
totally unrelated, but I love the pug in your avatar. I used to have one. So adorable <3
I’ve never had a problem bringing tea into the US. We’ll see if I can get some tea into Japan next month.
When I travel I usually keep tea in those resealable pouches you get when you order tea online. My guess is that a metal tin in checked luggage freaks TSA people out.
It’s nice to know I’m not the only person that travels with tea.
Since you don’t actually see who went through your suitcase, maybe it wasn’t the TSA. I know several TSA people and they generally don’t like their jobs, for whatever that is worth. I think it was the worst large agency to work for in the federal government again this year.
There was a news story last night on CBS about baggage handlers opening peoples suitcases and stealing things.
If there is no notice….
And this is why I try really hard to never check a bag.
But I’ve made sure though that for those times when I can’t it carry-on I’ve got a TSA approved lock handy. Though it’s not fool proof, it’s one more obstacle for the baggage handlers to overcome if they’re determined to get into it :(
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