Podcast: Check-in versus Carry-on Baggage
Malika Kapur: I know you travel a lot. Uh, you’re here in London, your home is Toronto, headquarters is New York.
Marg Franklin: -York, yeah.
Malika Kapur: You’re here in London, going to the Netherlands, Australia next week and I’ve missed something. There was one more city you’re going to …
Marg Franklin: Oh I think we- I’m on a bit of a tour. So, it’s yeah.
Malika Kapur: But there- I wanted to ask you. There is a raging debate in my own team — my team is mostly women — about check-in baggage versus carry-on bag.
Marg Franklin: Never, ever, ever, ever check in. I can go for weeks on end. I will never check in.
Malika Kapur: Seriously?
Marg Franklin: Ever. Ever. I haven’t checked in in years. And I never will.
Malika Kapur: How, how do you …
Marg Franklin: I will buy clothes and have things shipped back home before I check in. I- I- I’m- I am a master packer and-
Malika Kapur: Top tip for …
Marg Franklin: And I- and I will use dry cleaning on the way through, but I will never check a bag ever.
Malika Kapur: That is phenomenal. So, in November, I had a long trip, well, eight days to Asia and I checked in a bag and of course I reached without my bags. And after that, I’m a convert, I will never-
Marg Franklin: I’ve gone three weeks. I never check in.
Malika Kapur: How do you fit everything in?
Marg Franklin: Well, I’m kind of small. So, there’s that. Very effective. Uh, I don’t waste a single space.
Malika Kapur: At some stage, you have to have a workshop in the art of packing, right?
Marg Franklin: YouTube’s got it all on there.
Vocabulary:
headquarters – (noun) the main office, center of operations, or controlling authority of an organization, “The multinational tech company decided to move its global headquarters from California to Texas.”
on a bit of a tour – (expression) traveling to several different places or cities in a short period of time, often for work or promotional purposes, “The author is on a bit of a tour this month to promote her newly published biography.”
raging debate – (noun phrase) a highly passionate, intense, or active argument or discussion about a particular topic, “There is a raging debate in our office over whether working from home is more productive than working in person.”
weeks on end – (idiom) for several consecutive weeks without stopping or pausing, “During the peak season, the sailors stayed out at sea for weeks on end.”
shipped back – (phrasal verb) sent goods or items back to their original location, country, or home using a delivery service, “He bought a beautiful wooden table in Italy and had it shipped back to his apartment in Canada.”
master packer – (noun phrase) someone who is exceptionally skilled, organized, and efficient at fitting items into suitcases or boxes, “Thanks to my sister being a master packer, we managed to fit our entire lives into just four cardboard boxes.”
convert – (noun) someone who has changed their opinion, beliefs, or habits and now strongly supports a new way of thinking or doing things, “I used to hate drinking black coffee, but after trying high-quality espresso, I am a complete convert.”
waste a single space – (expression) to leave an available area, gap, or opportunity empty or unused; to fail to maximize resources, “When packing a tiny trunk for a long road trip, you cannot afford to waste a single space.”
at some stage – (idiom/expression) at an unspecified point in the future or during a process, “We will need to hire a new graphic designer at some stage to help with our branding.”
art of packing – (expression) the specialized skill or technique of organizing and fitting items into a suitcase or box efficiently, “Rolling your clothes instead of folding them is one of the classic secrets to the art of packing.”