I’m borrowing a title here from Global Traveler‘s January Design column. The story is about the latest fashion in coats, and bundling up is on my mind. I’m heading to New York City for GT’s annual awards lunch, and it’s going to be cold up there, I gather. It’s even going to snow tonight. We’re going to have a cold snap here in Florida–dropping down to 63 degrees–so I don’t exactly need outerwear much. My various coats got donated to charity when I moved here four years ago; I just kept my good brown coat and a ski jacket. So when my mother asked me what coat I was taking, that was a pretty easy question to answer. This may not be novel to Southerners who’ve lived here a long time, but I finally figured out how to travel with a coat. Carrying it around the airport in Tampa when it’s 80 degrees, or even 60, is both cumbersome and uncomfortable. Since I’ve started checking baggage in order to retain ownership of my various lotions and potions, I found a soft folding bag that I pack the coat in, check it through, and then at the northern end I can put on the coat and stick the folded-up bag in a pocket. I wear a pashmina as a scarf starting out in Florida, can use it as a cuddly blanket on the plane, and then at least have something warm if, in the worst-case scenario, my coat takes a side trip to the Bahamas. Does anyone have other suggestions for traveling with a coat between hot and cold climates? –Mary Hunt, editor, eFlyer