In the mid 1990s I had been traveling a lot professionally and packing suitcases, waiting in security lines, waiting for planes, and other travel frustrations were part of a routine day. As others that travel for a living realize, working in many places in the world are simultaneously both exhilarating and frustrating. I knew the security details, what to have and not have in your possession, when to board, how to get upgrades, all the tricks. I was also aware that, at the time, I could have 75 lbs of luggage for international flights and always kept the bag lower than that by weighing it on the bathroom scale before I went to the airport, a trick from other travelers.
About this time, my friends at Bernafon asked if I would consider working with them on an R& D project for a few months in Bern, Switzerland, an offer any enterprising American could not refuse. So I
prepared my practice for an absence, 
made personal arrangements, and grabbed the first plane to Zurich, the train to Bern and found myself on the 6th floor of an apartment building, overlooking the “Young Boys” soccer stadium in the Wankdorf district. The work was fascinating, learning how hearing instrument products are engineered according to concepts generated by the audiology literature and then manufactured according to uncompromising standards. Although the process and how 
it works is probably another story another time, the personal experience was something unique and special. When not working we found ourselves going to the Young Boys soccer (football) games (they were awful that year while my Denver Broncos won the Super bowl without me), traveling to various capitol cities such as, Rome, Paris, London, Copenhagen and to various wine regions, Burgundy, Alsace, Champagne, and many more wonderful places that an audiologist may never find themselves (unless they take one of those “unethical” manufacturer trips….). The new friends, learning hearing aid research and development, project management as well as the personal experience was something that will always be a wonderful part of my life.
One day, I was approached by management to be the academic component of a team of representatives launching a new product into Latin America. Our task was to visit distributors 
and conduct training for their staff as well as hold seminars for customers. Colleagues that have been involved in product launches know that these trips can be grueling, but involve lots of new sites, new friends, interesting work, and a touch of fun as well. This particular trip was to involve working with distributors in many Latin American cities including such places as Buenos Aires, Argentina; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Mexico City, Mexico; Santiago, Chile, Lima, Peru; San Juan, Costa Rica among others. By now, I was a seasoned traveler and a professional at getting my 2-3 weeks of casual, business casual, and presentation suits and other necessities into my 75 lb suitcase.
Living in Europe has lots of wonders and things to get used to such as the metric system, small kitchens, going to the grocery store just about every day as the refigerators are small. Eating out 
more often as certain shops close on some nights and are open on others. Public transportation to a guy from rural Colorado is totally new, but we learned to negotiate the tram system and the trains. Other interesting situations arise such as languages. Many Europeans speak English these days, especially in Switzerland where it is not uncommon for people to speak 6 languages. There are still some, however, that do not speak English. For example, we communicated over minor issues and rules with the apartment landlord via computer and a translation program. If the conversation got complicated it was necessary to find a colleague at the company to facilitate the conversation. We learned to how to say many things (all misarticulated of course) but all in all the experience of being an expatriate for a time was an interesting and wondrous experience. In the midst of all this wonder I prepared for the Latin American trip in earnest, insuring that I had the proper attire for many of the special occasions that would be part of the trip. 
There were the suits for the presentations, the casual for traveling and business casual for other situations….and as most travelers know there are other accessories that go along with the various outfits. There were also a 
few references that I would often take with me for that invariable request that comes to international professionals, “While you are here, can you also speak about this?” On many trips there were emergent presentations, the distributor thought the talk was on one topic, when it really was on another. Or they just wanted the latest information on various topics and this was an opportunity to obtain unavailable information. Thus, the inevitable but necessary references were also a part of the luggage. So, I carefully packed the suitcase and, as usual, weighed it to insure that I had not gone over the limit of 75lbs, and that evening I caught the tram for the train station, then the train to the Zurich airport for the 10:30 PM plane to our first stop, Mexico City, Mexico.
At that time, the airline was Swiss Air, before their merger with Lufthansa was very accommodating, but tough on some restrictions. Unfortuneately, one of their most restrictive items was baggage 
weight. At check in, I was informed that, as a resident initating a flight from Switzerland, I had a 20KG weight limit for each bag or roughly 44lbs. This meant that I was about 31 lbs over on my baggage weight. I thought, of course, that with an American passport that this restriction did not apply to me, so I immediately discussed the issue with an airline checkin supervisor. The supervisor assured me that I was only allowed 20 KG and I immediately began to regret the extra shoes, suit and especially the reference books. As many 1990s travelers to the 
Zurich Airport may recall, the shops closed at about 6:00 PM for most things (except food and beer). At this point, it was about 9:30 PM and the shops that would carry baggage had been closed for hours. Since the shops were closed, the Swiss Air Supervisor offered a thick plastic bag that could augment my baggage and allow me to check in and catch the plane on time. So I moved heavy things to the plastic bag and finally checked it to Mexico City and I was off to catch my plane without further incident.
The plan was to just use the plastic bag until the first stop, then pick up another suitcase. Turned out 
that this plastic bag became the suitcase as our schedule was so tight there was never enough time too btain another suitcase. So I began to use the plastic bag a a storage place for dirty clothes and keep the clean ones (and the reference books) in the suitcase so that they would stay crisp for the balance of the trip. The photo to the left demonstrates the plastic bag conspicuously making a terrible 
impression on the hotel staff at the Presidente Hotel in Mexico City. There is something about your underwear hanging out in a plastic bag being checked that becames a company legacy that takes quite awhile to live down.
Lesson Learned: Double check the luggage weight requirements where ever you are so that you do not have to “leave yourself exposed”.
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Next week we begin a new series at Hearing International, an interesting series of how the study of 
Pychoacoustics began, who brought it to the USA and how it flourished in the development of Audiology. Composed to exposing underwear it sounds rather boring…but guarantee that it is an interesting story. Join us for a series titled : International and Computer Connections in Pychoacoustics. RMT
