• Congratulations to Charyn Pfeuffer of The Global Citizen Project for successfully meeting her fundraising goal!  I wrote about The Global Citizen Project on this site, and I’m proud to say that my friends and readers really stepped up to help Charyn meet her $20,000 goal.  For 3 months, Charyn worked hard to raise the money needed for her year-long, worldwide volunteer project, and it came right down to the wire, but she met her goal a mere 8 hours before her fundraising deadline.  Way to go, Charyn!  The Perpetual Tourist blog will be following along with Charyn’s volunteer travels, so stay tuned.  I believe her first stop is Haiti, this summer.  Thank you to all who donated to this cause and those of you who helped spread the word.
• The Samsonite xSpace Spinner giveaway is still open through this weekend — share your travel horror stories (and read other hilarious contributions) here for your chance to win this awesome suitcase.  I’ll pick a winner on Monday.
• I keep adding more tournaments to the Bridge section of this website.  For now I’m mostly adding them as I attend them, but if anyone has any requests, let me know.  The aim of this page is to help players figure out which tournaments they want to attend, and help find travel, hotel, and dining information as well as information about the tournament itself.  Feel free to contact me with any questions or requests!

Packing your bags for a trip is a complete nightmare.  Almost all the major airlines in the US charge passengers to check luggage, and those fees keep going up — most of these carriers upped fees again just last month.  Airlines are cracking down on their carry on policies more than ever, too, and you’ll be hit with more fees if you try to sneak an oversized carry on bag, or an extra carry on, onto your flight.

The best way to avoid extra fees when you fly is to pack all of your things in a carry-on.  Keep in mind, though, that you’ll have to remove certain items at the security checkpoint, like laptops and liquids, and you’ll also have to tote that bag with you everywhere you go.  You need a piece of luggage that meets size requirements, is easy to transport, and provides easy access for the things you’ll need to remove and replace at security.

The new Samsonite xSpace Spinner might just be the perfect carry on.  It’s compact enough for a standard overhead bin, but large enough to fit up to a week’s worth of clothing.  It comes with a TSA-friendly quart-sized clear toiletry bag that you’ll need for your liquids at security and plenty of pockets to separate things like your clothes, toiletries, and portable electronics.  Seriously, this thing has so many pockets, I keep finding new ones on mine.  It’s great — makes it very easy to stow my laptop in its own pocket for easy removal and replacement at security.  The spinner also comes with a removable toiletry kit and a day pack/laundry bag.

The fabric of the bag is a stain-resistant poly/nylon blend that will be able to handle a bumpy ride like a champ.  It’s got four wheels, so it smoothly rolls upright.  You won’t have to drag it along through airport after airport.  I love this suitcase, and I’d recommend it to any traveler — and I’m going to give one away!

Here’s how you can enter to win a free Samsonite xSpace Spinner:

Leave a comment on this post and tell me a story about a luggage nightmare you’ve experienced while traveling, or just tell me where you’ll go on your first trip with a new Spinner.  Interesting stories will earn brownie points, but I’m going to select the winner at random from the valid entries.  You may only enter the contest one time.  Multiple entries from the same person will be disqualified.  You must provide a valid email address so I can contact you if you win.  Your email address will only be visible to me.  I will close the contest to new entries on 2/28/2010 at 11:59pm PST, and select a winner on 3/1/2010.  You will be notified by email if you win.  Good luck!