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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Ensley Eikenburg

Aired August 24, 2002 - 09:22   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Last hour, we told you how some airlines are charging extra if you check more than two bags. And, of course, you know there are limits as to what you can carry on board. So if wasting money is not your bag exactly, our next guest can probably help. Ensley Eikenburg of Fodor's Travel Publications joins us from New York with tips on How to travel light.
Ensley, good morning, thanks for being with us.

ENSLEY EIKENBURG, FODOR'S TRAVEL PUBLICATIONS: Good morning.

COOPER: So what is the best way to travel light these days?

EIKENBURG: Well, one of the things I want to start right off the bat in saying is that if you really have to take on three bags, the thing to do is to consider shipping your bag. You don't want to pay the $80 surcharge that airlines are now considering having you pay, well, more than considering.

So one of the things to look into is shipping. I did a little research and for a 70-pound bag traveling from New York to Atlanta, I found that if I did a little advanced planning, it would only cost me $25.

COOPER: Oh, that is good.

EIKENBURG: Absolutely. So that is a great way to save money. But in this day and age, the less bags that you take, the better. So you definitely don't want to take more than two, but, at the same time, you also would like to get it down to one carry-on.

COOPER: So how do you...

EIKENBURG: There are lots of lines...

COOPER: So...

EIKENBURG: ... at the airport.

COOPER: ... how, how do you pack, I mean, more efficiently? I mean, do you -- you have some, some recommendations for, for, for actually packing better?

EIKENBURG: Yes. Start off with a little preplanning. The first thing to do is to make a list. Think about all of the things that you're going to be doing, everything that you want to wear, and write it down on a handy sheet of paper.

This does two things. This ensures that you take everything you need, probably one -- the number one concerns that packers have. And, two, have you a handy inventory of everything that is in your bag should your bag get lost. You can go to the airline and tell them what is in it, which is really very handy.

COOPER: All right, so you write it down, then what happens?

EIKENBURG: Then you want to lay everything you're going to take out on your bed. And at this point, get creative with your packing. Think about, do you really need the black pants and the black skirt? Consolidate. Do you really need three pairs of khakis?

Then you're going to want to put it into your bag, and you're going to want to do that in the most efficient way possible. So one of the techniques that we at Fodor's recommend is the rolling technique.

COOPER: What's, what is the rolling technique?

EIKENBURG: Well, let me show you. So this is just your basic T- shirt I've got here. I fold it up and I set it down and I roll as tightly as I can.

COOPER: Doesn't it get all wrinkled that way?

EIKENBURG: No, it actually doesn't. If you roll tightly, what it does is, it creates a very sort of compact packing block, and you can easily fit it into your suitcase. Now...

COOPER: What about, what about, like, a suit? I mean, you can't do that with a suit, can you?

EIKENBURG: Actually, you can. But what you need with a suit is plastic. So it's basically, take your dry cleaning plastic bag -- I've got here a pair of linen pants which I don't want to get wrinkled. All I do here, as I put them over the plastic bag, fold the plastic bag over, and then I continue the rolling technique.

What this does is, it creates clothes that are not going to move around in your bag. You've packed very tightly here, and the plastic bag helps squeeze out all of the air, so your clothes are not going to move around and they are not going to cause friction or get wrinkled.

This can be used for men's shirts, it can be used for suits. I've even seen it done to a great effect on wedding dresses.

COOPER: All right, so if I -- I'm going to try this when I next come to Atlanta, I'm going to roll up my suit, and if it gets wrinkled, I am sending you the bill.

EIKENBURG: Please do. One of the things that's nice about this technique is that it saves on wrinkles, but it's also a very neat way to pack. And this is really useful. If you get pulled over for security reasons in the airport, if you open up a bag like this to security, they're going to be able to see exactly what is in this bag very easily. They are not going to be routing around in your bag.

COOPER: Well, it is funny, because every time -- I get pulled over by security for some reason about every time I fly. And I'm inevitably embarrassed, because the guy opens up the bag, and I have to explain to him, like, I'm messy, I'm sorry. And because, you know, you feel kind of embarrassed.

So that certainly looks like a good way to pack. Ensley Eikenburg, thanks very much for joining us this morning with that.

EIKENBURG: Thank you.

COOPER: All right.

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