@Freya@Suppressed@mystery-ak @txradioguy I have flown to a number of countries. My husband's company sent us overseas for two weeks every two years, all expenses paid, even food. In a year we didn't go overseas, it was a location in the states, all expenses paid for two weeks.
One time I took my son, living in London, a CONCRETE ARMADILLO to put in his yard to remind him of Texas. A large concrete Armadillo weighs many pounds - I had it in a bag with wheels to take it on plane with me as they would have never allowed it to go in the luggage hold because they would have weighed it and dumped it.
When I had to pick it up to put it on the conveyor belt with airline people there, a heavy duty man in our group and I had a plan; he picked it up as though it weighed nothing so no one knew it was heavy; it was so heavy I could not pick it up. It would have been taken from me if they knew how much it weighed.
I rolled it right into the London hotel room and son came and was happy to get an Armadillo into his sooo English garden.
My husband died in 1989, so no more trips to foreign countries but I had already been to those I wanted to visit. After that time, I flew by myself to London several times until 2000.
Here is the point (besides the Armadillo story)- the last time I flew to London was in the year
"2000". September, 2001, was when the towers fell and flying was changed forever. I have not flown anywhere since 2000. I don't know the rules now, what I could pack and not pack, what I could carry on and not carry on. I guess they would take the knife out of my purse? But, I have a second knife that looks like a key (knife is inside the key) - could I fake them out with that?
I couldn't get my concrete Armadillo on there now - i would likely end up in jail for carrying a lethal Armadillo.
A travel tip: The worst bathroom I was ever in was at the Greece airport - there were flies on the toilet seat. I did not sit down. If you go to Greece, expect that at their airport potty room.
Another tip: How to determine the economic status of a country: The softer the toilet paper is in a public restroom or hotel, the higher the country's economic status.
I had a collection of toilet paper from every country to prove my economic evaluation of each country. TAKE A ROLL OF YOUR TOILET PAPER WITH YOU WHEN YOU FLY TO ANOTHER COUNTRY.