Travel Preparations

Airline Baggage Restrictions

Airlines allow 2 checked bags, one carry-on and one personal bag such as a purse or briefcase. 

• Each checked bag can have dimensions of up to 62” (length plus width plus height)
• La Montaña requests that you use your second checked bag to carry ministry materials, books, Bibles, games, etc.
• No piece of baggage can weigh more than 50 pounds.
• The carry-on bag maximum dimensions are 9”x14”x22”.  Be sure to measure your carry-on bag size – many are larger than 22”! (includes length of the wheels and struts)

Additional items such as cameras, and handbags may be carried.  It must be small enough to fit in the overhead bin or under your seat. For more information visit:
hetravelinsider.info
www.thetravelinsider.info/index.htm

Excess baggage will incur extra charges depending on point of origin and destination, and will be allowed only if space is available.  Musical instruments do not count as part of the free baggage allowance.  Unless small in size like a violin, it will be checked baggage and charged as an excess baggage fee.  The length/height/width dimensions can not exceed 120 inches. 

Electronic games are forbidden on the plane, as are radios, CD, mini disk and DAT players.  Personal tape recorders are allowed, as are laptop computers.  Follow the rules for cell phone use as explained by the flight attendant.

Do not take your personal surfboard.  There will be rentals available at the beach for both surfboards and bicycles.  We will not have room on the busses we use in Costa Rica to carry surfboards.

Luggage Tags: Put your 1st initial and last name only on the front of your luggage tags. Put your full name, address and phone on the inside. This way, potential crooks won’t be able to determine your gender and home address at a glance. (Same color tags on all bags helps in locating the team's bags at the airports)

Packing

Checked baggage:  In your second piece of luggage you will be responsible for taking ministry materials, books and Bibles on the way over – it becomes space for souvenirs on the way back.  Or you may be asked to take a box as your 2nd piece of luggage, in which case, pack a collapsible bag in your larger suitcase in order to have souvenir space on the return trip.  We’ll assign items before we leave for the airport.

Carry-on baggage:  Consider what you will need on the plane trip – medications, toothbrush/paste, comb/brush, change of clothes, safety razor (acceptable if in a cartridge).  Put your essentials in a separate bag inside your carry-on in case your carry-on gets bumped up to baggage.  That way it’s easy to pull out before they check it in.  Decant shampoos, etc, into smaller travel bottles with screw type lids.  Squeeze the air out, and put in zip lock bags to avoid messes when the air pressure changes.

Pack Extra Eyeglasses: If you depend on prescription eyewear, bring an extra pair of glasses, sunglasses or contact lenses. Pack them in a hard case or shoe so they don’t become damaged in transit.

Fill Your Shoes: Shoes take up an incredible amount of space in your luggage. Fill the insides with items such as socks or belts.

Pack and Roll: Roll clothes such as t-shirts and non-wrinkling pants to avoid hard creases or folds. Place these items around the perimeter of your bag.

Don’t forget to bring a hat! Choose a style that has a large brim, is preferably waterproof, offers some sort of ventilation and most of all, packable.

Fast Dry Underwear: Bring a few pairs of fast dry underwear that you can wash in your sink and dry overnight.

What Not to Bring:
By now, most of us know that items such as screwdrivers and pocketknives are no longer allowed in carry-on bags. However, security checkpoints continue to cart away boxes of nail files, corkscrews, and toy guns. The airports have no provision for returning confiscated items to their owners, so they are simply destroyed.

Many of us fail to carefully consider what may be in our carry-on luggage -- we forget the tool kit in our laptop case, the pocketknife attached to our key chain, or the sewing kit in our purse. Be sure to examine the contents of your carry-on bags and remove items that may be confiscated BEFORE you leave home. This is especially critical when you decide to carry your suitcase on board rather than checking it in.

Your toiletry kit may be full of prohibited items such as scissors or razors that are easily overlooked since they are packed in your luggage and not your purse. Carry a Security-Friendly Manicure Set or electric razor. If you’re unsure whether or not an item will pass through security, you’re safest packing it in your checked-in luggage or leaving it at home.

For a complete list of prohibited items, visit the U.S. Department of Transportation Web Site

www.dot.gov/citizen_services/aviation/index.html

Gifts should not be wrapped. Any wrapped packages may be unwrapped in order to identify the contents.

Prescription drugs and other medical devices must be accompanied with proof of medical need. Be sure to bring along documentation.

Living Out of A Suitcase

How To Pack Without Wrinkles
Wrinkling is caused both by under packing (which allows clothes to shift) and by over packing (which squishes clothes). To avoid wrinkles, pack lightly but tightly.

Use bags inside bags. For clothes that don’t wrinkle easily, evacuate air before sealing the bags to compress them into the least space. (Check out Magellan’s Pack-It Compressor®! It gets almost all the air out of your suitcase). Packing in bags makes it easy to locate what you need without pawing through your suitcase and wrinkling other clothes. It’s also easy to unpack: Just toss the bags in a dresser drawer.

Try rolling clothes such as socks, underwear, and shorts. Rolling leaves no hard folds or creases in your clothes, and creates a compact package for wedging around the edge of your suitcase or inside shoes. To roll a T-shirt -- or a stack of several -- place face down on a flat surface, fold the sleeves inward, and roll up from the bottom. For non-wrinkling pants, start with the cuff end and roll upward.

To guard against dirt and wrinkles, pack shoes inside shoe bags to keep them from soiling clothes. Some travelers cover dresses, skirts, pants, and shirts with dry-cleaner bags. Other people say it’s difficult to squeeze out all the air, so the bags themselves take up space. Or they feel that in tropical climates the thin plastic traps humidity that actually fosters wrinkling. Some travelers prefer to put tissue paper over clothes before folding to discourage wrinkles. You may have to experiment a little to find the system that works best for your luggage, your fabrics, and the climates where you travel.

Divide and Conquer
This method works particularly well with vertical rolling suitcases, which often include a removable horizontal divider. The divider is the key to success. If your bag doesn’t have one, it’s easy to make from cardboard or stiff plastic. Cut it to fit the suitcase’s dimensions. At the center of the two long sides, make cutouts for your hands so you can easily lift the divider out of the suitcase.

Here’s the method:

• Place the closed suitcase on the bed. Lay out your clothes and other items for packing around it,.
• In the outside pockets, insert things you’ll want handy: paperback book, folding raincoat, and so on.
• Open the suitcase. Put miscellaneous small stuff in the interior pockets. Extend your belt along the inside walls. Now place your heaviest items (toiletry bag, shoes, clothes steamer, etc.) along the edge near the wheels. Other heavy things go along the side adjacent to the hinges. (The goal is to keep heavy items from shifting every time you pick up or roll the suitcase.) In the middle area, place your bags filled with socks and underwear, etc.
• Place the divider on top. You’ll now combine elements from two systems-what packing mavens call “interlayering” (weaving clothes together in alternating layers) and the “bundle” (folding clothes around a bulky core of other clothes and gear). The general idea is to avoid “hard folds” that crease the fabric.

First, lay your pants (or skirt) on the divider, with the waistband against one short end of the suitcase and the legs (or skirt bottom) extending over the other side. (Lay a piece of tissue paper on top if desired.) Now add your blazer, with the collar against the far edge of the suitcase and the bottom extending over the near side. (If you’re a man, roll up your necktie and put it in the blazer pocket.)

Now arrange soft items (rolled T-shirts, sweater, a stack of folded shirts, etc.) in the remaining space. To finish, place the pants legs across these items; then fold up the bottom of the blazer across the pants.

You now have a neat package that will stay nearly wrinkle free. When you want to get at something underneath without messing up other clothes, just lift out the divider.

Clothing & Weather Tips
Above all, we ask that when you pick out your clothes you remember that you are representing Christ wherever you go, so dress modestly.

Temperatures have been running in the 70’s, with high humidity and daily thunderstorms.   Our summers are the rainy season for Costa Rica, so bring some light rain gear – such as a waterproof jacket.  Also, bring some old clothes and old boots/tennis shoes that you can work and get muddy in, and then throw them away at the end of the trip.

Swimsuits:
Girls must have a modest one-piece,
Guys, no Speedos!

Pack light – it will be hot.  You won’t need more than 1 pair of long pants and a couple pairs of shorts (denim is too heavy and dries too slowly). Take several T-shirts.  You will need close-toed shoes for the work projects (tennis shoes OK) and flip-flops.  Repeat – PACK LIGHTLY!

Miscellaneous
Other strongly suggested items include sunscreen (lots – you will be close to the equator) and hats, sunglasses.  There is no power for hair dryers in the cabins at camp, but perhaps at the hotel at the beach.  Consider the natural look!  NO walkmans/MP3/iPods.  Take a book or converse to pass the time in the airport.

Bedding
You will need to bring either a light sleeping bag or 2 sheets and a light blanket.  It is very warm down there but gets cool at night at the campsite in the mountains.  Also bring a towel and washcloth.

Meals
All meals are included at the camp but you might want to bring money for snacks at camp and for airport food.

Travel Tips

• Photocopy guidebook pages or devotional pages rather than taking the entire book.
• Print address labels for friends to whom you will send postcards.
• Photocopy prescriptions, medical information, itinerary, traveler’s checks, a list of emergency contact phone numbers and passport face page and keep in a plastic folder in luggage.
• Take a supply of zip lock bags – they come in handy.
• There are no laundry facilities for campers
• Take extra camera batteries; carry film in zip lock bag and ask for hand inspection at airport, or carry in lead shielded pouch.  The x-ray machines are stronger at some airports.
• Electrical is the same in Costa Rica as in the US. 
• On the plane – motion sickness pills (Bonine works w/o drowsiness), No-Jet Lag pills (can purchase at drug store), neck pillow, ear plugs, eye shades, tissue.
• SLEEP ON THE PLANE ON THE WAY OVER.  If your flight is an overnighter and if you stay up to watch movies all night, you will be toast for the first day in Costa Rica, try to get as much sleep as you can.

Mail
The camp requests that you not send mail or packages to camp for your camper.  It takes too long and has to be inspected at customs and personally picked up by the camp.  If you want your child to get mail, consider giving it to a leader to take down and give to your child on specific days.

Money
Take enough money for snacks at the airports and on our travels, surfboard or bicycle rental, and souvenirs.  Take a lot of single dollar bills as those are easy to use in Costa Rica.  You can exchange larger bills ($20s only) with the Logistics Team for Costa Rican currency (Assign someone to be the Bank).

Phone Numbers:
(Emergency Phone Numbers  for true
emergencies only) 

La Montana Camp

• 011-506-390-7338 Camp cell
  
• 011-506-215-3641
  or 506-215-3641 Camp office
  
• 011-506-352-2438 Joe Pent Jr.’s cell

U.S. Contact Numbers

• 800-925-6359 U.S. Office
  
• 805-451-8228 Tom Doty’s cell phone