Taking Dollfie abroad

Hello! 

I am moving to Japan in a couple of months time and am unsure as to what is the best way to take my doll with me. The Volks Dollfie Dream carry cases would be great but are always sold out (∩´﹏`∩) Her wig is long so I will take it seperately in the box and packaging it originally came in, and since she is custom I have a face cover to protect her face-up, but as for carrying her I am unsure how to go about it ( p′︵‵。)

I haven't traveled with my DD personally, but I remember this YouTube video that seems very insightful about packing dolls for flights.

When it was just Mel I was taking internationally, he was in a carry-on bag (actually a repurposed freezer bag) in a towel, it was the perfect size for him to sit in a seated position. 

When I had to take everyone back from Japan I ended up taking their legs off and arranging them Tetris-style into my carry-on suitcase, each torso-arm-head and legs chunk wrapped in a separate white cloth. 

After seeing the way suitcases are tossed around I was much too scared to have anyone in checkin luggage ._.  But most international flights should be generous with cabin luggage and allow at least two bags. (I had the aforementioned small suitcase and a small backpack.  Tilo (my MDD) was actually in the backpack with my laptop, wallet and PS4 because he didn’t fit in the suitcase, and he was the only one I didn’t have to disassemble (he was also wrapped in a towel with a good covering his face, in an L shape kind of hunched over the PS4...

edit: I forgot to mention i’d already shipped Luka and Miku back home before I left - they both fit one luka’s box together. This is irrelevant to your situation, but just in case anyone wanted to know it was actually 3 DDs and one SDC in that suitcase, not 5.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Monty

3 hours ago, neonhologram said:

I haven't traveled with my DD personally, but I remember this YouTube video that seems very insightful about packing dolls for flights.

Thank you!! 

1 hour ago, Monty said:

When it was just Mel I was taking internationally, he was in a carry-on bag (actually a repurposed freezer bag) in a towel, it was the perfect size for him to sit in a seated position. 

When I had to take everyone back from Japan I ended up taking their legs off and arranging them Tetris-style into my carry-on suitcase, each torso-arm-head and legs chunk wrapped in a separate white cloth. 

After seeing the way suitcases are tossed around I was much too scared to have anyone in checkin luggage ._.  But most international flights should be generous with cabin luggage and allow at least two bags. (I had the aforementioned small suitcase and a small backpack.  Tilo (my MDD) was actually in the backpack with my laptop, wallet and PS4 because he didn’t fit in the suitcase, and he was the only one I didn’t have to disassemble (he was also wrapped in a towel with a good covering his face, in an L shape kind of hunched over the PS4...

edit: I forgot to mention i’d already shipped Luka and Miku back home before I left - they both fit one luka’s box together. This is irrelevant to your situation, but just in case anyone wanted to know it was actually 3 DDs and one SDC in that suitcase, not 5.

Thank you so much! Sorry if it sounds strange but I recognise your doll names since I follow you on instagram! They're so cute! (*ˊᗜˋ*)/♡

I will definitely be carrying her in my carry on bag and make sure she is wrapped up safe (*´▽`人) Thank you!

When I bring just one doll with me to visit my mom, I usually put them in my personal item bag/backpack alongside my snacks and water thermos; if I'm bringing anyone with long hair, I'll usually put their wig in a ziplock baggie, preferably inside a hair net. Otherwise I just crouch them in the big compartment of the backpack and go on my merry way. 

I've brought dolls on several flights (no more than two at a time, my bag's not that big), and haven't been stopped at security because of the doll, ever. I have, however, been stopped for a vibrating pillow and for my snacks. 

The first time I got stopped for the pillow, it was a bit slow at security and the TSA agent actually let me see the Xray. She said that seeing dolls sometimes causes agents a bit of a start, but beyond that it's usually obvious the doll is harmless, just funny looking. The vibrating pillow, on the other hand. . . it looked like an hourglass of death.  Once I unzipped the pillow so she could see the mechanism everything was cool, but I could very much see why that thing made her pull me aside! Snacks, meanwhile, apparently look like a giant black mass of mystery on some Xray units. 

TL;DR: If you're just bringing one doll, carry-on or personal item is fine, though you may want to take her wig off to keep it tidy. However, if you're bringing your own food, put it in a big clear ziplock, and pull said ziplock out of your bag when you hit security; you'll save yourself some hassle.