The rules of travel have altered so much in the last few years, with strict regulation regarding air travel, questionable car searches that may vary in regulation from state to state, and the feeling of never really being ultimately sure what is appropriate or improper in the travel world any longer. In most cases, if you decide to fly the formerly affable skies, your airline or airport website will have an accurate and up to date list regarding what is okay and what is not okay regarding your luggage. As if packing for a trip wasn’t difficult enough, now we all have to do it with cloudy and blurry regulations and a list we print out from the airlines.

The first measure of travel complacency is simple; don’t try to squeeze on a carry on that you know is not really a carry-on. You will get yourself into the frustrating position of trying to argue your way onto the airplane with a large bag that just won’t do. You’re not going to succeed. Once upon a time, you would, but not anymore. Now, you will simply be forced to check it and risk being charged an additional fee for having too many luggage items. Plus, you’re going to end up traveling without your usual band of comfort items that you could have had if you just scaled down into a standard sized carry on luggage. The simple fact is that there used to be wiggle room, and now, there is none.