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Packaging Horizons Tales From the International Travel Trenches While the world continues to get smaller with the extended use of the Internet, our international travel logs prove just how big the Earth becomes when we leave our backyards. These Women in Packaging members share their international travel adventures and offer proof that there's no place like home. Pushing the panic button with no shoes on On a recent trip to England, we had the Academy Award winner for Candid Camera. It was three in the morning, and my husband and I were sound asleep. We had arrived in London very late and were quite tired. Before getting into bed, I opened the windows because the room was hot and piled our luggage in front of the door since the dead bolt wouldn't lock. (This was a definite no-no.) Not long after we had dropped off to sleep, a car alarm woke us. Not fully awake, I asked my husband if I should close the windows. He said, "No." At that point I realized that the siren wasn't coming from outside but from inside the hotel. It wasn't a car alarm but a smoke alarm! I frantically yelled at my husband, "Get out of bed. It's the fire alarm!" As I grabbed my coat, purse, our passports, and the room key, my husband said not to panic and began tossing aside our luggage that had been piled in front of the door. We raced down the stairs with the other roused patrons including several wheelchair-bound guests who were being carried down. It was chaos. We were on the fifth floor of a thousand-room hotel. About half way down the stairs we realized that my husband had neglected to put on his shoes (so much for not panicking). After recovering from all the activity and assurances from the firemen that there was no fire, we returned to our rooms. We were lucky to have our key. Not many of the guests remembered their keys, but they did have their shoes. JoAnn R. Hines Women in Packaging, Inc. The diva from Apple I used to work as a packaging engineer for Apple Computer. Apple had a very informal atmosphere and allowed employees to use their own titles on business cards such as 'Quality Cowboy' and 'Expediting Wizard.' I chose 'Packaging Diva/Engineer' for my business cards. It became an ice breaker when meeting with new OEM suppliers. I was in Taiwan on a business trip and went through the ritual of exchanging business cards. It is a very important part of business conduct in the Far East. Very solemnly, my engineering counterpart asked me, "What is diva?" I had a tough time translating that one... Leslie Lindsay BOSE Corporation Take a taxi to Amsterdam and get the scoop on your boss I recently took a business trip to the Netherlands. After an overnight flight, I was exhausted and grateful to sit and watch the countryside go by in the airport shuttle that had been arranged by our local office there. The driver had been with the contracted service for many years. As he drove our party to our hotel outside of Amsterdam, he proceeded to tell us about all of the people with whom he had become acquainted over the years, including many of our company's high level executives. He knew where their children went to college, when they transferred jobs, and where they had gone - plus many other personal stories. I probably learned more about some of our executives from him than from anyone else. The moral of this story is, "Listen to all who speak, no matter what their roles are, because everyone has something you can learn from." Kathryn Aiken SC Johnson & Son, Inc. My luggage went on a cruise and all I got was this resort wear My most humorous international travel experience was during a pleasure trip to Acapulco, Mexico, when the airline lost my luggage. By the third day of the vacation there was still no word on its whereabouts. My belongings apparently preferred to have a separate vacation. I began blaming myself and everyone else for the mysterious disappearance. I decided that the fate of my bag and its contents was sealed when I so carelessly locked it. If I hadn't, the people that steal the contents of tourists' luggage would have been able to swiftly rummage through it, instead of having to take it to a secret hiding place to pick the lock. As we were staying at a remote resort, my strategic fashion options were limited. I now have additions to my wardrobe, which include four outfits purchased at the Mayan Palace gift shops. The cotton gunny-sacks were necessary at the time, but I don't get much wear out of the expensive 'Resort Wear' with the embroidered Mayan Palace logo (on virtually every outfit) when I'm back home in Cincinnati shopping or at my daughter's soccer games. P.S. My luggage arrived in Cincinnati three weeks after my Acapulco trip. It had been on a cruise. I hope it had a good time. D.C. Stanfa Georgia Pacific Corporation A lesson about lint Pre-monsoon India is a hot and sticky place. Temperatures soar near the hundreds every day and the humidity must be well over that. But there I was, sitting in the place of respect in the living room of the plaster-over-mud home of the director of the regional folkloric museum in Rajasthan. In 1978, not too many tourists traveled to visit this museum. Though it was not large it was well maintained and had pride in the local folk arts emanating from every display. The museum director was delighted to talk with me about his puppet collection. We chatted and laughed about the foibles of the puppet-characters and the men and gods they represented. As I left, he presented me with an intricate oilcloth painting that one of the artisans had done and also invited me to supper with his family at his house. When I arrived, the room was full; a few of his important neighbors had been invited in the interim. The meal was fabulous, but there wasn't much opportunity to talk with the women of the house as they stayed in the kitchen when they weren't bringing out the food or taking away the empty platters. Politics, business, art, trends in America, the situation in India- the dinner time discussion was vigorous. When the table was put to the side and the room converted into a sitting area, conversation continued. But the evening breeze brought little relief through the sparse windows. 'Stifling' is a word that just about sums it up. When I couldn't stand the sweat on my face anymore, I tried not to make a big deal about the heat and reached into my pocketbook. Conversation was still going on, so without looking I ripped open the sachet that held the wipe and discretely patted it on my face. A few minutes later I couldn't stand the stickiness anymore and dipped once again into my pocketbook, this time for a Kleenex to sop up the sweat. Drinks were served, and a short while later I asked to use the toilet. There, in the small enclosure that was dimly lit by a solitary 20-watt bulb, I reached for my comb to tidy up. The mirror reflected back an incredible sight - a blonde American lady with white lint all over her face! Which teaches an important travel lesson: pack your clear shoe polish sachets in a different place than your handywipes. Barbara Keck Keck & Co. One tough flight and one brave nineteen-year-old I was probably born to travel internationally. At the age of six months, my mother put me in the arms of a nice stewardess on a plane going from Paris to Amsterdam, and I haven't stopped traveling since. I'm French, have a Dutch mother, have lived in Great Britain, and am now based in Long Island, N.Y., with my family, husband, and two small kids. We moved here when I was promoted within my company to the international sales manager. The toughest flight I ever had was back in 1989 when I was 19 and flying from London to Hong Kong on the plane that was supposed to crash because of a threat to Salman Rushdie. Fifty percent of the passengers cancelled their trip. I stayed. It was my first job going to China to find a partner for a manufacturing joint venture. It took five hours to check every single piece of luggage before boarding. When the plane took off, it was really silent. Suddenly we could hear someone screaming, and then it would get quiet. I sat next to a wonderful couple from India who prayed and helped me until 30 minutes had passed. Then we knew that we were high enough in the air so that the danger was behind us. At that point everybody started talking and smiling a lot. Sophie Chevalier Techpack America - Henlopen RETURN TO PACKAGING HORIZONS EDITORIAL HIGHLIGHTS PAGE