I Am A Traveling Man

The title sounds like a Rick Nelson lyric…

For those who have traveled Internationaly before, they won’t have much of an issue, however I have been watching those ‘To Catch A Smuggler’ TV series and find them fascinating. When I finally venture overseas I will know to make sure that even as a visitor, I have my hotels or places to stay already booked in advance. If not, it looks fishy. I will check beforehand and make sure that I am not carrying any prohibited items with me. Some places restrict fruit, sticks ( I have no idea why people carry sticks with them when traveling) and of course, no meat or vegetables. It seems that many people going to visit friends or travel to exotic areas want to take their local foods with them.

Customs in many places has the ability and authority to check your phone.

So, many will say the above may be a bit much to worry about.

Decades ago I visited the Bahamas and as I was leaving the country I had a toothache. I dropped by the drug store and saw a remedy we had used for decades in America, Paragoric. It was often rubbed on your gums to ease the pain and had a nice licorice/anise taste. They also put it in other medicine. It was a small bottle and I thought nothing about putting it in my luggage. I did not declare it when entering the U.S.. Why would you need t odeclare a tooth ache medicine? The U.S. appears to have classified it and taken it off the market because while used for I guess a century they ‘discovered’ it is a tincture of opium. A very small amount, but a hint of opium none the less.

When traveling back and forth from Atlanta to Hawaii, my black gym-type bag was often pulled and swabbed for drugs. It seems that was a typical color and style drug runners used. Years ago I was traveling from Honolulu to the Big Island. I was in a wheel chair because I just had open heart surgery. The Honolulu airport K9 looking for drugs came by me, turned around, sniffed again and sat down next to me. THAT is an indication the person may be carrying drugs. I was pulled (actually, wheeled) out of line and asked questions. I showed the hour old discharge papers from Kaiser and then related why the dog may have made me a suspect. I had dogs at home and didn’t have a chance to change clothes before being flown to be admitted to the hospital. Also, I usually spent weekends with our local drug enforcement officer and her K9 Labrador. Anyway, the stories checked out and we were on our way.