On the plane

A backpack is an excellent choice for your carry-on item. It will free up your hands for your boarding pass and identification, plus make life a lot easier if you are already toting a suitcase or hockey bag to the check-in desk.

Plus, backpacks are easily stowed at your seat on both planes and buses.

In whatever you choose to carry-on for our 12 hour journey to Quebec City, consider having the following items:

• ear phones
• hand santitizer (if liquid, put it in your liquid bag) 
• granola bar/protein bar/fruit bar
• gum
• empty plastic bag
• kleenex
• change of clothes
• medication 
• tylenol for headaches/ear pain etc
• ipad/tablet/phone/camera
• charger cables for iPad/phone/other
• book/magazine/cards 
• wallet

You may also wish to have a small travel pillow and/or blanket as airlines don't provide them anymore. 

You won't be able to take a bottle of water through security, but you can buy one, or refill a container once you are through security to the boarding area.

Westjet will offer a choice of soft drinks/juice/coffee and a choice of a salty (tiny flax crackers - kinda good if you are over 40) or sweet (chocolate wafer/cookie) about an hour into the flight at no charge.  They will also have a couple choices of snacks (like Pringles or beef jerky) and a couple sandwiches for sale/purchase. Note that the plane is a cash-less environment, meaning you must pay with either a visa or mastercard.

As a word of travel-safety, don't place your wallet in the outside pocket of your backpack as it makes it vulnerable to theft. And don't stow all your identification, cards and cash in one place.  

Wear comfortable clothes that don't have big zippers, belts or buckles as they will slow you down in security. Do wear your most bulky shoes/boots on the plane, as it will save you valuable packing space in your suitcase. 

As far as plane etiquette goes, consider it a church. (If you are an uneasy flier, you may end up praying anyways!)  There is NO SUCH THING AS 'JUST KIDDING' regarding terrorism, bomb jokes and airline safety. So, don't even think about whispering a joke that could get your team in trouble. Keep your language clean, your hands to yourself, use your best manners, and this will be a breeze.... and that goes for the players too. 

If you'd like to see another sample packing list there are several on-line, including this one. 

Here is the definitive list of rules and regulations regarding travel safety, from the government website itself. 

Planning Tip: Packing

Our hotel has a guest laundry room. Considering the players wear their team gear religiously is makes good sense to pack lightly and plan to do a load of laundry while we're on the road. According to their website, the hotel does not have a pool or a work-out room.

To make the most of your luggage space, you can roll and store your t-shirts, underwear, socks, etc in jumbo ziploc bags. (See photo) You can further use this system as an organizational tool to know which shirts are still clean & which aren't. Once it's out of the ziploc, it's used.

Carry on bags (Your free bag that you tote onto the airplane yourself to your seat) can be a few different things, including a back-pack, purse, briefcase, 20" wheeled bag, or a gym-bag type thing. When you are packing it, make sure that any liquids are less than 100ml. YES, toothpaste, lip gloss and hand lotion are considered liquids. Each passenger may carry one liquids bag, up to 1L in size (provided at Security) in their carry on. You can pack bigger bottles etc in your checked baggage.


Sample 6 day packing list.

7 pairs of socks
7 underwear
3 t-shirts
1 turtleneck
1 long sleeve shirt
1 pullover sweatshirt
1 zip-up sweatshirts

8 or more ziplocs can fit in a 19" carry on.

2 track pants
1 jeans
pajamas
sneakers

toques/mittes/boots/ski pants
Dress shirt, pants, shoes/ties (2)

Cloth laundry bag
Laundry soap if you are brand sensitive

When packed in ziplocs, you can easily stay organize and present well for security checks.

Since 80% of checked baggage is black and/or very similar it is imperative that you have luggage date and your name/address/phone number on the outside and something on the inside should your tag get knocked off in transit. It is also highly recommended that you have an identifiable bright tag/scarf/charm/something so you can spot it on the carousel or, more importantly PREVENT someone else from mistakenly grabbing it thinking that it is theirs.

Both are carry-on size. The black is a wheeled 19".
Note the easy to see shark luggage tags.