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

Haha! My BBB Elena went with me to Hawaii earlier this summer. I packed her in my checked in luggage (in her box with her sleeping bag and other cushioning things. Her box was just too big for carry on (that and I had a camera bag and DVD bag instead). I worried that housecleaning would knock her over in my hotel room, so I added a sign, introducing her and asking them not to move her (I took a picture of that). On the way home I put her back in my checked in luggage. I suppose if I had brought a smaller doll they would have been in my carry on.

 

I'm totally loving all of the stories that people have shared so far!

Hopefully, more people will continue posting--I'd love to read more stories of the o.O;;;; reactions that security personnel seem to give when the dolls go through the machine~

 

on my way back from australia last year I was in line behind this woman with a bjd and when she was asked to show her passport not only did she show hers, but apparently she whipped out a homemade one for her doll too... the agents didn't even crack a smile when they stamped the doll's passport. I, on the other hand, was cackling like a madwoman.

(the longer I'm on this forum the more i remember seeing BJDs)

 

I'm also surprised people here got to unzip their own luggage. My mom and I were returning from VA, and they had to check my mom's carry-on -- we ended up having to abandon our hot sauce since it was 5oz, and not 3oz. But they asked her not to touch the bag.

 

There should be no problem as long as you bring some bubble wrap, cushions and a face mask

So far no damage has been done to mine !

 

I've brought dolls overseas with me before, and I've never had any problems, at worse, there was a holdup at the xray machine because the personnel couldn't figure out why there's a little person in the bag. But it's not something I like to do very often, since the only reason I'd bring them is to show to old friends. They are way to much trouble to lug around when all I want to do during vacation is to enjoy the sights and go shopping, so most of the time they just stay in the hotel room.

 

I don't know whether not I would take a doll on vacation...I would be afraid that I would leave them somewhere...

 

I may be doing a foreign exchange either this summer or next and I have been thinking about this for a while. I only have SDs so it might be a bit difficult. I'd like to bring more than one (preferably a couple... or two :P) because I'll be in France (my home country.... so not really foreign exchange XD) so there will be LOTS of photo opportunities. I will have a room all to myself so I won't have to worry about a roommate (thank goodness!!).

I'm so glad I found this thread. I think it tipped me in favour of bringing my dolls. ^^

 

Mm... So far I've only taken my dolls to places that don't involve going on public transportation. (Like for an overnight stay at my brother's house or to a caravan park)
I definitely think I'll take them to other places sometime though.
The photo opportunities are too good to miss! (which means I probably won't take 'em anywhere anytime soon, as whenever I go on holiday I'm with my family and I don't want to hold them back while I take heaps of doll pictures. xP)
Although I'm getting a Pukifee for Christmas and, as she's small, I'm thinking about taking her with me when we go to France for New Year. C:
I think I'll keep her in my hand luggage though. I wouldn't be able to relax if I knew she was being thrown around in my bigger bag. D:
Plus, that way I'd get photos of her on the plane. XD

 

I've taken my doll on to the plain before from LA to Seattle, just for convinience when I went through the custome and security check I put him in my backpack which was quite big as my only carry-on. I thought they'd open the bag for sure doing screening so I even put a little note on the inside saying [please handle with care], but suprisingly enough they didn't even bother to open the bag 0_0
I was pretty sure the guy saw what was inside, what looked like a small human stuffed in a big bag (LOL), but I guess he's had similar experience before...so afterwards I asked my friend about this and she said during convention season (especially AX) there are a lot of people travelling with their dolls going in and out of LA that if the scanning guy is just a little bit experienced, he won't bother with this. *u*bb
But I've also heard some horror stories about dolls going through custome...I guess it just really depends.

 

i have not done this yet (since i've had dolls i don't seem to take vacations...hmmm) but i wouldn't think that it would be a bad experience especially if you heed the advice of people who have.

 

I seldom go on vacation, but when I do and I have my doll I'll probably take her with me. I've always taken an inanimate companion with me when I travel, so it would keep me company on long plane/bus rides. I would feel comfortable leaving her in a hotel, too - I'm sure the housekeeping would realize that a giant 60cm doll would be missed pretty quickly if they tried to steal it!

 

I plan to travel to Thailand and Vietnam on Feb/2011 with my 3 dolls (1 DD from Volks, 1 MSD from D.O.D and 1 Lati Yellow) and I wonder how to carry them (checked/carry-on?) as well as custom fees in those countries. Any ideas?
I already tried to search in the forum but I didn't find anything T_T
Thanks for helping me out ^_^

 

Hi, I have not travelled with any of my dolls to Thailand and Vietnam, but I've travelled with 2 SD sized dolls (60cm) to Singapore which is also in the region with similar climate - hot and humid.

I have only taken 2 dolls with me on a trip. My doll bag can hold 2 dolls and I hand carry them as carry on luggage. There was once when a nasty Air Canada officer from Tokyo Narita airport did not allow me to carry the bag onto the flight because it was too long, but after seeing the content and after a lot of convincing that the bag fits the overhead compartment, they let the dolls onto the flight. I was worried that someone may stack something heavy onto the dolls while in the over head compartment, my carrier bag is made of soft material, it's not a hard case. So, a hard carrying case is actually better for air travel except that the hard cases may not allow us to squeez in 2 dolls. Another way is to take off the heads and carry the heads while you check in the bodies.

Customs fees? I've never come across that. Customs officers in a Canadian airport once commented that my boys need tickets and passports. They asked me for their nationality. There was one time while in transit in HK international airport, the customs officer made me take out all the dolls for inspection, they swiped some strange liquid onto the dolls's cloths and did some checks. The customs officers wore gloves in their job (so that was good) and I handled the dolls myself, I did not let them handle it. I also wear gloves and when they saw how careful I was with the hand carried items, they undertood the cost but they were concerned with security, not customs fees. Moreover, the dolls are not new, they are not in their official boxes, I wrapped them up like babies in the bag.

Personally, I'd worry more about hotel security and the weather. If you plan to leave the dolls in the hotel at some point in time, you should stay in a better hotel, preferably 5 or 6 star hotel. Security and safety should be top priority.

The weather is hot and humid, I never bring the dolls out in the morning or afternoon sun unless they are kept inside the bag. Evening is the best time to bring them out. I wear gloves when handling dolls in that climate because my hands tend to become sweaty. Wearing gloves will also indicate to others that they need to be careful when touching the dolls.

 

Thanks stargazer_i for all the good tips and info. This will be the first time that I'm travelling with my dolls so I'm really clueless and nervous, but what you wrote above really helped me a lot. Honestly, the weather issue never came across my mind and thank for reminding me.
Highly appreciated ^_^

 

Earlier today, my poor dolls got frisked. Not me, the small woman-person in a large, somewhat ominous trench coat: The poor little dolls. I'd been putting myself back together after going through security, when I noticed that the bag I carry my dolls and some other small items in hadn't come out of the scanner yet. Of course, my first thought was more along the lines of "Aw man, did I forget my conditioner in there again? Bummer. Now I'm going to have to buy some more after they throw it away."

So, once I'd gotten my shoes on, and my coat, and all my sundry electronics stowed away, I made my way over to the little table where the TSA man had taken my bag. Of course, once I got there, I realized that no, he was not waving around my conditioner. He was attempting to figure out how to remove my dolls.

Now, he had some serious issues with getting those two into the open. The opening on my bag isn't as long as the rest of it, so you need to get them by their shoulders to pull them out, which I managed to explain quite suckily... Then, the poor guy couldn't figure out how to undo the blanket for my girl, which lead to a lot of pointing that look the bow was right in his blind spot but oh no I wasn't allowed to touch it to help him now was I. He got a fairly funny look on his face when he realized that no, I wasn't smuggling small people, I had a pair of dolls in my luggage. He then went and rubbed down the inside of my bag with one of those little wipes, giving an odd look to the miniature guitar case in there, before doing the same to my dolls. He then put them in one of those little trays and took them away to be scanned. Again.

Now, by this point, I couldn't decide whether I wanted to laugh so hard I fell down, make several loud, snarky comments about how it was okay if they found explosive residue, it was because these dolls were just exploding into the American market, aaaand having a panic attack. Thankfully, I got both my kiddos back safe and sound. It was just an... odd way to begin the trip home, though, thankfully not as stressful as some other peoples'.

 

I'm planning on going to Japan next August and having my boy Mattie by then to bring along; reading all of these stories makes me both look forward and dread the TSA's reaction. XD

 

So I just went back home for Thanksgiving break and went through the same airport as before--John Wayne Airport in Orange County. It's NOWHERE near as big as LAX and...

Apparently they remembered me from last time. OTL

I went through security checkpoint, expecting at least some type of reaction to the dolls--I had two SDs, one MSD, and one Yo. Did I get pulled aside? Nope. Did my bag get run through the scanner several times? Nada. Did I get odd looks? No~

Instead, I got a, "Oh, it's her again with the dolls! I remember her from the last time she went through here."

The last time that I had gone home was May. *facepalms*

 

Thank you for this thread. I m traveling very often. But next Wednesday I will fly first time with my BJDs. So I was worried if they dont have problems with S hooks in dolls. :-) I dont know if they r use to BJDs between Ireland and Poland. :-D I m flying with Ryanair so It cold be fun. So I hope I dont get any funny story because my husband will be very embarassed by me :-D But if I have one, I will share here :-D

 

Yeah, I'm really interested in hearing more stories, especially now with TSA being uber crazy now. (Maybe they'll start thorough pat downs on the dollies too!). I'd be afraid of going through the airports with them. I wouldn't want them to confiscate them.. ;_;. I'd walk out and say "pft, my dolls worth more than my ticket".