Thanks for the list Hocndoc! There were things on the list I hadn't thought about taking.
I use to travel for business, but with my new job, I haven't travelled for a couple of years. I try to travel as lightly as possible. I visited the USSR in the late eighties, and my luggage was lost. I learned that the essentials one must have is a passport, driver's license, and money. You can get by, I did it for 8 days with one outfit. That said, I don't want to take a cruise that way. :) I will check two bags, with clothes and other essentials divided between the two bags. I'll throw a change of clothes in my computer bag and carry that on board. The airlines can lose one bag, but odds are they won't lose both.
I've never used the duct tape, but I just figure it's a lucky charm.
The hardest thing is packing for classes. I'm taking "modular" classes for bioethics master so I fly to Chicago for a week several times a year - need 25 lbs of books this semester. I divide them between 2 suitcases and my monster tote bag.
It's good exercise.