Travelling with your dolls: issues/ideas/etc. Part I

I love taking Hiro places with me, he sits in the front passenger seat of the car so I can reach over and hold his hand occasionally. If he wasn't so freakin' scary expensive I'd take him with me everywhere! But if I'm going to be out of the car for a long time and can't take him with me, he stays home. He pretty much only goes to doll events and out for photo shoots. It's just better that way... and I'm so happy to see him when I DO get home!

Linda S.
galatia9

 

Thanks guys, for the bit of reason (and sanity) (^w^).

I was having a silly moment . and those images really make me laugh (as horrible as they are).

We won't have a carrier when we go on our flight (at most a tote bag '''). The most trouble I'm anticipating is having to remove Lawrence's wig to show the security guy the magnets... and shocking the pants out of everyone in line behind us

 

Nope, the scan should be fine-- but watch out if they open up the bag to inspect them. @_@ They weren't exactly gentle with our dears- fortunately, everyone made it through okay. ^^;; Grabby-handed jerks. ¬_¬

 

my family's planning to go to singapore early next year and i'm going to take my dolls! I just figure.. why go on holiday, when you can go on holiday with your dolls too?
it would be kinda fun taking them out to a new place. plus, i'd really like to take them to the sg domuya.

none of the relatives i'd be staying with have young children with them, but if there are any, I trust myself to keep an eye on my dolls or keep them safe.

I intend to take them as carry on luggage on planes, so they'd be under my eye at all times.

 

i'm going to california and taking my doll, but i don't intend to take her everywhere with me. i'm a little scared about leaving her in the hotel room though, i think i'm going to lock her up in my suitcase, just in case.

 

I think you will feel better if you buy him a few goodies, like JRyu suggested. I went to Epcot this past summer (first time I've gone to Florida or to Disney World), and my mission was to visit the World Pavillion, more specifically the Japanese Pavillion. They have cute little Iwako food erasers that are the perfect size for SD and MSD dolls. If I were able to, I would have stayed at the Japanese store the whole trip. ^_^ They also have lots of traditional Japanese items, like kimono, parasols, geta, zori, and ton of Sanrio stuff. The store is pretty large. *sigh* Wish I could go back.

But anyway, don't worry. I think you'll feel better if you left him at home. At least you'll know he's ok. Epcot by itself seemed pretty hectic and crowded, and there weren't a lot of safe places to take pictures of a doll.

Have a good time!

 

Yeah, I agree that you'd have to worry more about handling by airport officials.

Last time I went through security, the guy picked up my (soft) bag holding Eron and just sort of threw it onto the belt, Eron-side-down.

I'm not holding anything against them, since they're tired and few people carry anything delicate, but be sure to lay the bags flat on the belt yourself so they don't wind up doing that.

Strangely enough, once I got called aside for a brush-down, but they never went through my bag (I think I was carrying Eron in a bowling back back then).

 

What you can do (which is what I did) is take the doll /out/ of the carrier and put him in the tray... it might very well give the person watching the screen a heart attack (it happened at LAX XD The girl was just like.. what the?!?! And then she asked if she could see the doll, cuz she thought he was really cool, but he'd given them a hell of a jolt XD; He didn't get inspected or anything, though).

Then again, I always travel with my doll in my arms or bag (where I can see him) because I'm too cheap to get a carrier T-T;

 

hmm, might be a little OT

I have read that some places had these plastic xray scan thing to detect stuff like plastic bombs.

Being relatively similar to basic plastics, would the dolls be allowed pass those? >_<

If i ever go overseas with Fraud I will freak out if the security guy tells me he might be a plastic bomb >_>"
I'll most likely unstring him there to show he is not a bomb compared to getting him confiscated and stuff...

 

Haha the magnets in my friend's SA's headcap are hardly "powerful" they're really, disappointingly weak actually... i'm sure there will be no problems. XD

 

I was just thinkin about this the other day. I'm not putting him through the scanner, unless they downright refuse to let me on the flight if I don't.

If they want, I can stand him up and they can frisk him, though..

 

Well, they have those swabbs that they use to detect explosives, so I imagine if they thought your doll was a problem they'd swab them. I'd just keep them from swabbing its face/anything that was painted.

I'd agree with the if possible, take your doll out of the suitcase (like you would a laptop) to pass it through, its obvious what it is that way. At least thats my plan next time I go home~~

(Good topic anyways though, traveling with bjds)

 

To tell you the truth, I kind of want to know what they look like in the scanner XD;

Omichao: They probably will not let you on the flight unless you put it through the scanner.

Children's stuffed animals, food.. anything that is not you or the clothes you are wearing /must/ be put through the scanner. Even the suitcase you check at the desk is put through a scanner at some point. The X-ray scanner will not hurt your doll, and I assure you, if you just put him in a tray and ask that they be careful with him because he is fragile, they won't hurt him.

 

Well, this thread made me feel a bit better as well xD
I don't have any magnets on Ko, but I'll be flying down to KS soon to move and plan on taking him onboard with me o 3o;;

 

The "do I take my doll with me checklist": for everyone and anyone to consider when going on a trip.

-Will I have time to play with/carry my doll around?
-Will it upset, annoy, or weird out the people I'm traveling with?
-Is there any practical reason to take my doll? (checking scale for shopping for items, a photoshoot opportunity you don't want to miss, etc.)
-Will I feel safe leaving the doll behind in a hotel room/relative's house sometimes?
-Am I already bringing a lot of crap and wondering how I'm going to carry it?
-Will my doll need a lot of fussing/accessories/extra clothing, or can I just bring the doll as is and not worry about it?
-Is the trip for a reason the supercedes the dolls (spending close time with family, business, etc.), or is it just a casual pleasure/sightseeing/shopping trip?
-How many activities are planned that I can/can't include my doll in?
-Am I planning to meet up with another doll owner in the place I'm going to?
-Will any of my traveling partners help me take care of my doll?
-Will I get annoyed with carrying/fretting over/worring about my doll?
-Does my doll seem interested? :P

what carries more weight, pros or cons?

 

i took my hound and two dods on a flight and had no trouble at all, they didnt even ask to see what was in the bag (which i thought was wierd since there must be crazy metal hooks and stuff that show up xD)

 

I took my SDC Kurenai, who has a strong magnet in her headcap, on the plane with me and she was fine. She went through the scanner and everything. We were pulled aside for a random check, and they just peeked in the bag and said "What a pretty doll!" Didn't take her apart or anything.

On the way home, I brought her and my new SD-sized doll with me on the plane w/o any problems. I just had to break down the Volks box and smush down the Volks bag so it would be within the carry-on size limit. They had me place the bag within a clear plastic bag that they provided.

 

That is an EXCELLENT list.
I especially agree with "Travelling Partners helping." I travelled to Asia with my mom and Adelais. If I were going with my friends, I don't think I would've been as confident. I mean, I love my friends, but they might not have known his importance to me as my mom does. And she was responsible enough to remind me to check on him, and watch him while I scampered off somewhere.

All in all, I wouldn't bring your doll anywhere you can't imagine them being. I mean, it's really fun to take a doll somewhere unexpected, like a book store- but sometimes there are places even you don't imagine a doll being. Like a fancy-shmancy restaurant. Or if you're with friends/family who would be embarrassed by their presense. ;3 Relationships with others are much more important than dolls.

 

My SIL works for AirCanada and one night I got the security guys (I was bored waiting for her) to put Miss Lily through... it isn't that cool She pretty much just looked like a white blob shaped like Lily. The metal showed up a bit more. The security guy said "it looks like she an "S" on the brain", because of course you could see the S hook. Then the sex jokes started Anyways, she hasn't suffered for the trip through the machine.

And kinda OT: but techinically anything that is alive doesn't go through the scanners so if you bring a pet with you in a carry bag you take them through in your arms. If they go in cargo they get scanned the same as people, no x-rays. Just FYI.

Lyssa