Flying With Ball Jointed Dolls
Do you travel with your dolls? I do! It’s so fun! Honestly, there’s at least one with me every time I travel. They have to see the world! ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
We’re just one week away from Resin Rose, so I thought this would be a timely post! Hopefully it inspires you to travel with your BJDs, too!
Planning your packing
If you plan well, traveling with your dolls is easy.
You’ll want to keep your dolls in your carry-on luggage. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with checked luggage, and while it’s not common, it’s not uncommon either. If you’re new to flying, you’ll always want to keep anything that’s expensive or difficult to replace with you in your carry-on, not just your dolls. Your laptop and other electronics should also always go in your carry-on for safety purposes.
With carry-on luggage, you’re a little more limited in the size of your bags, and those size limitations vary by airline. Depending on your seating group, you may also need to check in one of your carry-on bags if the plane gets too full. Let’s go more into detail on that.
Bag size
Know who you’re flying with. That means your airline and your dolls.
Look up your airline’s carry-on guidelines before you start packing. Try to use the airline’s actual website instead of a third-party site for the most accurate information. It really does vary from airline to airline, so don’t assume that just because your bags fit with one airline, they’ll fit for another. For example, when I fly with Delta, I can put my underseat luggage under the aisle seat. When I fly with Southwest, I need to pick a window seat, because my bag won’t fit in the aisle seat’s underseat storage!
You should also note that bag sizes for carry-on bags are fine for 40cm dolls and smaller, but once you get past 50cm, your dolls are going to have to be packed in bent or seated positions to fit. You might have to disassemble parts like heads, wings, or tails, and some dolls might just not be suitable for flying to begin with. Remember, if it’s annoying to fly with, it’s going to be annoying to carry around on your trip.
Boarding groups
Airlines typically seat in various groups, and the later you’re seated, the greater the chance that you’ll need to check in your larger carry-on item — which will probably be stressful if there’s a doll inside! Smaller regional airlines also use smaller planes that may get full as soon as halfway through boarding, so just be mindful of that as well.
You can easily get a better group for free on most airlines by downloading their app and signing up for their rewards program. Depending on your credit card, you might also get access to better airline status and boarding group options that way. You don’t need to get a brand new credit card just for a better seat, but it’s good to check what perks your current cards have!
A personal tip
Don’t get too cheap with your flight. Budget airlines like Spirit look like a great deal at first glance, but you’ll get nickel and dimed every step of the process. If you plan ahead and don’t book your flight last minute, you can get very reasonable ticket prices from standard airlines that are much more upfront about their fees.
So what kind of bags should you use?
You’ll typically get to bring two bags with you on the plane: a larger carry-on luggage that goes in the overhead compartment and the personal item that goes under your seat.
For your larger carry-on luggage, I recommend a hard-shell suitcase. There’s going to be a lot of bumping around in the overhead bins while you’re flying, so think of the hard-shell as a shield for your dolls. While we’re on this subject, I recommend hard-shell suitcases for your checked-in bags, too. (ᵕ—ᴗ—) Your checked-in luggage will get a little roughed up, so it’s nice to have that extra layer of protection. With fabric suitcases, it’s a lot easier for your items to be squished by other bags, ripped, stained, and so on.
I personally use TravelPro’s Maxlite Air suitcases for both my larger carry-on and my checked bags. They’re super, super sturdy, and they lock, too! I pretty much fly at least once a month, so I need something that can survive being used constantly. You can absolutely get away with something less expensive, though, especially if you don’t travel frequently. T.J. Maxx has a lot of really great options under $50, and it’s very easy to find great brands there.
For underseat bags, you’ll specifically want a bag described as being an underseat bag. The size difference between the carry-on that goes in the overhead bins and the carry-on that goes under your seat is huge. You will be stopped at the gate and told to pick a bag to check in if you show up with two of the larger bags. My underseat bag is a nice Samsonite bag I got for around $50 at T.J. Maxx. It’s somehow survived the past decade of traveling with me. ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧ For traveling with dolls, you’ll want to pick something that easily opens up wide enough for you to get your dolls in there. You might also consider something with extra pockets for things like hand sanitizer, snacks, and water bottles just so you’re not worried about something opening up and spilling on your doll mid-flight.
How to actually pack your doll
Alright, you’ve made sure your bags are the right size for the airline you’re flying with, got a good boarding group, put a cute luggage tag on, and now it’s time to pack!
What you’ll need:
Your doll (obviously)
Something to wrap your doll in
I’m using the pillow carrier my doll came with, but it’s okay if you don’t have one of these! You can also use something like a soft, thick light-colored scarf or a baby blanket. Remember, the bag is protecting your doll from what’s outside of the bag. You just need to worry about protecting your doll from things like scratches and bumps inside the bag. You want a good amount of padding, but you don’t need to go full bubble wrap armor mode.
Something to store things that might get loose, like shoes and wigs
A faceup protector
You can use a domed cup lid if you don’t have enough time to order one (think Frappuccino lids). I also cut two little notches and tie a rubber band around mine for extra security.
Tissue paper, used to protect your doll’s faceup, hands, and other fragile parts
You’ll just wrap your doll’s faceup and any fragile parts, like hands, just like this!
“I don’t look stupid, right? Right?”
Then put your doll in the carrier and into your bag! If you’re packing multiple dolls, you can just put them into your larger carry-on bag. This bag is my underseat bag, so I have my doll seated to make room for other things that will go here, like my purse. I’d have my dolls lying flat in standing position in my larger bag. If your doll is on the larger side, it might not fit in your underseat bag even in a bent or seated position, so you may have to use your larger carry-on bag and limit how many dolls you’re traveling with.
You can use all of those extra pockets for your storing doll stuff. Don’t forget to leave space for your own stuff, too!
I also recommend having a doll go-bag as well. Here’s what’s in mine:
Rubber bands
Scissors — two pairs for some reason? (๑>•̀๑)
A comb
Wig styling product (I just use Volks water wax) and something to scoop it out with
An unused makeup brush for removing things like dust from your doll’s face
Pen
Measuring tape
I normally carry tissues, hand sanitizer, Wet Wipes, and Q-tips in my own makeup bag, but they might be useful to add if you don’t normally carry them.
Going through airport security
I see a lot of people worried about this part, but going through airport security with dolls is pretty straight forward.
The number one thing: You do not need to take your dolls out of your bag. Seriously, you are just making your life more complicated. You will be holding up airport traffic by unpacking your dolls, and it isn’t even something security wants or needs you to do! Security is worried about liquids and electronics (and maybe not even that depending on the airport and the scanners they have). Keep everything packed and in your bag unless you’re instructed otherwise. You will run into more trouble over the water bottle you forgot to empty than you will over the six dolls you decided to travel with.
Sometimes your bag will be randomly selected for additional screening. It’s not a big deal if this happens, and it’s super common. In case this happens, approach security and let them know (politely) that they have your bag. Security is just doing their job, and it’s normally over in a couple of minutes. They’ll ask you some questions, like if there’s anything harmful, any food products, anything fragile, etc. before they open the bag up. Let them know that you do have some fragile items and ask them to be careful in handling your dolls in case they need to remove them from the pillow carrier or wrap. I’ve only had a doll removed from its pillow carrier once. Usually, security is just checking the bags concert security style here and isn’t actually opening anything up.
Enjoy your trip!
Once you’re through security and on the plane, that’s it! You’re done! You packed your doll (or maybe even dolls) and you’re ready to enjoy your trip with them. Have lots of fun! I know this post was super lengthy, but the more you do this, the easier it gets. Eventually, it’ll be just like packing the rest of your stuff for a trip! (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
