Travelling and Toys
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It’s almost spring which means it’s mini-break season! After a long, cold winter I know that I’m not the only one who’s sick of dark days and unwilling to wait ‘til my summer holidays to get some culture in abroad.
If culture is not the only thing you want to get in abroad, but you're nervy about flying with your sex toys: keep reading! This is Play Blue’s official Do’s and Don’ts for travelling with adult toys.
- Don’t be embarrassed. Let’s be honest, the thought of your vibrator being spotted on the X-ray machine and whipped out in front of the entire line in security at Dublin Airport is a mortifying one. We get that. But, there’s no point in making things more awkward than they need to be by acting bashful and getting cagey about the rabbit in your backpack. You’re an adult and you’re fully entitled to enjoy yourself on holidays - whether that means seeing the sights, or just seeing the inside of your hotel bed, if you know what we mean. (Sex. We mean sex.) Thousands of passengers travel through the airport every day - airport security have seen it all by now. They’re fully trained on what to do if they come across a sex toy in someone’s luggage.
The truth is that your nightmare about 6 airport security people pointing guns at your suitcase as it vibrates in a little circle in the middle of the terminal probably won’t happen. The best way to avoid any potential embarrassment is just to be straightforward - if they ask what’s in the bag in security, just tell them. There’s nothing to be ashamed of! You could always ask for your bag to be searched in private should your toy pop up on the scanner, but that’s messy and takes longer than just pulling up your pants and taking that stride of pride through security with your luggage full of BDSM paraphernalia. However, there are some Do’s below to make the experience slightly more bearable.
- Do stick to smaller toys - your trip abroad is unfortunately not an outing for The Great American Challenge especially if you’re only using carry-on luggage. Now, while we personally can’t actually envision someone staging a coup and bludgeoning an air hostess with an 18 inch dildo - anything ‘baton-like’ is not permitted in carry-on luggage. You’re better off sticking to smaller, discreet toys - no bigger than 7 inches.
- Do keep your toys in your checked-in luggage (if possible). Now for those of us who are trying to ball on a budget, paying for checked in luggage is not an option but common sense dictates that if you’re going to be checking in a bag, your sex toys should be in it as opposed to your carry on luggage. It might still show up on the scanners but at least you won’t be around to watch them discover it.
- Do pack your toys properly. Regardless of which case you put it in, it’s a good idea to put your toys in a clear plastic bag. It’s more hygienic for both you and whichever security person has to fish it out of your bag. On that note, it’s also a good idea to keep the bagged toy on top of your clothes in your suitcase, or easily accessible in your carry on - that way if your toy triggers the scanner at least all of your stuff won’t get mussed up while they look for it.
- Do remove batteries - the rules for getting batteries through airport security change all the time, so do pay attention to signs in the airport you’re travelling from or ask security if you have any questions. However, one thing that is for certain is that you should remove the batteries from your sex toys. At the moment normal alkaline batteries (typical AA etc) and rechargeable lithium batteries are allowed on planes in both carry- on and checked baggage, but it’s better to bag them up and have them ready to take out for inspection if needs be. Useful tip: many Fun Factory toys have travel locks - so even if you have a rechargeable toy you can avoid vibrating bag syndrome.
- Do pack your liquids properly. If you’re packing a sex toy or two, you’ll most likely also be bringing along lube and toy cleaner. It’s very easy to just shove them down the bottom of your bag as they’re sex toy related but as they’re liquids they’ll have to be presented as such when going through security if they’re in your carry-on. How raging would you be if your dildo doesn’t trigger the alarm but you end up getting strip searched over a bottle of errant lube?
And finally:
- Absolutely Do your research! Now this tip is less applicable to Irish people going on weekend trips, (we all know that the Europeans love a good sex toy) - but it is illegal to have sex toys in quite a few places. Some you would expect, like the U.A.E but others (like Thailand) are a little surprising. If you intend on taking your toys on a longer trip, it’s well worth researching in advance - a misstep could result in a fine or detainment. We know our toys are good, but just this once we’d ask that you leave them at home - no sex is definitely preferable to prison sex.