Luggage Challenged

Today we are flying to Chicago to be with my family for Christmas. Since we were engaged, our airline-lost-my-luggage ratio has consistently been high, even though the airline has always varied. The first time it happened, it was Chris's bag, and it was delivered by airline messenger the next day.

The second time it happened, we had flown to visit his Mom for our first Christmas together. We had checked two bags. When we arrived at our destination, one bag had not left SLC, and the other had somehow been sent to San Francisco, even though we were in Seattle. Explain that one to me. Unfortunately, since we had flown in on Christmas Eve, all service desks were unmanned and there was little hope of trying to track down our bags. That Christmas I remember sequestering myself in a quiet room for 45 minutes at a time waiting on hold, trying to get a status on my bag...It would be an understatement to say that I was ticked off.

You think I would have learned my lesson, but I consistently pack in such a way that I would be lost without my checked baggage (I mean, really. If you didn't actually expect to use something on your trip, you wouldn't have packed it in the first place!). So the next time it happened, on a trip to Illinois the following Christmas, I realized that it would have been wise to stash deodorant and spare undies at the bottom of my carry-on. Now that many liquids are prohibited on airplanes, not only would I smell in one set of clothes, but I would also look terrible because my liquid foundation would be checked.

So now I come to a great dilemma. How do I pack? How do I break the curse? Am I doomed to a life of checking my book and carrying-on my underwear?