Avoid travel pitfalls

The mob rushes forward, crushing the young and the elderly too feeble to get out of the way.

No, this is not a scene outside the Cinerama when Lord of the Rings tickets go on sale. Rather, this is the scene at the single-security entrance at Sea-Tac International Airport during the peak travel time. It's rough. It's smelly, awkward and terribly tiring. When massive numbers of people all try moving about the country at the same time, things get ugly. Yet every student traveling home for winter break is going to have to brave a few of the pitfalls of holiday traveling.

Air travel

There are three challenges with traveling by air. One must get to the airport, get through security and catch the flight.

In Seattle, the time to get through security can be as short as 20 minutes or as long as two hours, but is there's a little secret not a lot of travelers know about. It's not a secret door that lets you bypass the lines, but almost as good. Just between us, complaining will not make the line go faster. It's hard to believe, but true. Bring some tunes, bring a magazine and bring an expectation that you'll be on your feet for a while.

That said, there are a few pieces of advice that can keep the security line from becoming a major pain.

According to the Port of Seattle, which runs Sea-Tac, many items prohibited in carry-on luggage can be put into checked luggage. To avoid becoming one of those people whose fingernail clippers or tweezers are confiscated, put them in your checked luggage.

The Port of Seattle will be handing out plastic bags at security checkpoints, and encourages travelers to take all metal items off their person and put them into the plastic bags. They will then be put inside the carry-on bags. So, keys, cell phones, change -- everything metal -- ought to go into the bag running through the X-ray machine. Laptops need to be taken out of their bags and run through the X-ray machines by themselves.

Coats have to be taken off, as do belts and maybe shoes. Do not wear boots with steel toes. Duh. Wear slippers.

Myths still exist about X-ray machines, and they cause some travelers to worry. Film is not damaged by the machines unless it is very fast film or specialty film. If anything in your checked bag looks thin or pointed, there may be questions. Be prepared to direct a security agent to suspicious items.

Items you forget to put in your checked bag that are not allowed on the plane, like nail files, can be mailed to your address. However, you will have to exit the line, and then endure another two hours.

All that said, show up at the airport at least two hours before your flight. Give yourself more time if you will need to stand in line for a boarding pass or to check in luggage.

There are a number of options for getting yourself and your luggage to the airport. Services like ShuttleExpress will pick you up and drop you off, but for a less-than-nominal fee. Metro buses are a much more economical trip to the airport, though not quite as classy. Get yourself downtown, then hop the Metro Route 174 or the 194 headed south to Federal Way. This bus takes between half an hour to an hour from downtown to the airport.

Bus travel

Greyhound is very economical, costing less than $60 round trip from Seattle to Spokane. But, there are tons of "interesting" folks who ride the bus. There are horror stories about sitting next to big, smelly fat people, but you're getting what you paid for.

There are two big pitfalls about the bus, however.

• It is slower than driving yourself. For example, one can drive from Seattle to Walla Walla in four hours, easy. The bus, however, takes between seven-and-a-half to eight hours. The bus stops in every little village and just about every gas station -- lots of smoke breaks.

• When traveling over the mountain passes, the bus may have to chain up. That takes time. The bus will have to take the chains off too. That takes time. It's even more boring to be on a bus when it's not moving.

Driving yourself

Chances are, many students are heading over the mountains to visit their families. The passes can be treacherous during what the local broadcast news stations may call "December winter death-storm blast frigid 2003."

Before hitting the freeways, check the pass reports. The Washington state Department of Transportation provides a number of ways to get pass information through both its Web site and a phone service. The Web site, http://wsdot.wa.gov, features cameras on the passes, along with forecasts and section-by-section reports.

On the road, or before leaving, call the transportation department at 1-800-695-7623, or dial 511 from a wireless phone to use the voice-activated menu.

Above all, when dealing with the other inconsiderate jerks on the road, on the bus or in line at the airport, be patient. It's the time of good cheer, so don't make a scene when you can't see the end of the airport security line.