Call me a nerd or the daughter of a librarian, I've always loved libraries. Even now in the age of e-books, I love to have a book in my hands as I curl up in a chair and read.

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Each time I visit Dubai, I tend to have new visitors with me who want to see the biggest sights. This last time was no exception as it was Paul's first time.

While everyone knows that Hollywood is the hot spot for film premieres, I've been suprirsed since moving to London at the number of films that also have openings here.

Paul managed to catch the premiere of Skyfall when we first moved to London, but since then, I have missed every single one. Since they often fall on weekdays, I seem to always be inconveniently out of town when the premieres happen, including the premiere for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

So, when a friend asked me to catch the Monuments Men premiere with her AND I was in town, I knew I had to try.

Now, let me preface this by saying that we didn't actually attend the movie itself. We settled with standing outside the theatre in Leicester Square with hopes that the stars would walk by us. We got there about 5:30, with the film scheduled to start somewhere around 7:00.  While the weather has been pleasant lately, there was a chill in the air in addition to the blustery weather. Even bundled up, it was cold, especially as I had my hands out of my pockets and gloves waiting to snatch some photos.

We were positioned on the blockades that were up by where the cars enter, just up from the red carpet so we could see (even if someone distantly) as people walked by. After 20 minutes of waiting, the first celebrity rolls up. It's a funny van, so we decide it won't be anyone important and go back to watching.

Then, all of a sudden, we hear screaming. It turns out, it was someone important. George Clooney! He makes the rounds to nearly all the fans, including walking all the way down to our barricades to sign autographs and say hi (including to us!). He was a laid back guy, and looked just like he does on the screen in real life, even from less than 3 feet away.

My sadly blurry George Clooney photo

Happy that we had at least one celebrity sighting, we went back to waiting. Slowly, but surely, the rest of the cast arrived. John Goodman, then Bill Murray, Jean DuJardin, Hugh Bonneville and then Matt Damon. Unfortunately, none of the rest made their way off the red carpet, so we didn't see much more than anyone watching on TV.

Finally, after I decided I couldn't feel my fingers anymore, we called it a night and fought the crowds to grab a bite to eat.

I must say, it's quite the spectacle and if you find yourself in London - stop by and see if you can join in. I think the crowds probably start lining up very early for the red carpet positions, but even a bit further out, you never know which friendly star may decide to make their fans day!

I am someone who thinks themselves an expert traveler. With over 150,000 miles logged in planes last year alone, I revile in my elite status on airlines and am the person who get huffy in the security lane waiting on people to figure out their liquids.

I have set rules for air travel, which I religiously follow.

1. Keep your liquids in a bag separate from the rest of the toiletries - I have a separate baggie that my liquids stay in all the time (even at home) and then tuck them in the front pocket of my bag for easy access.
2. Check in online - easy and saves you time.
3. Always carry on! Unless you're gone for a week, you can fit at it in a carry on.
4. Avoid airplane bathrooms - harder on a 10 hour flight, but worth an attempt. They are gross and even grosser when you watch as someone is in there 15 minutes before coming out. And the worst offense - going in barefoot!

When Paul and I went to Dubai in January, I tossed my airline rules to the wind when my flight was delayed by 2.5 hours til 4:45 am and checked my bag. Usually, this is the least important one to follow (at least for me) and sometimes can't be avoided.

As I collected my bag, I noticed it was unzipped, got home, double checked and my jewelry had been stolen. Luckily, nothing important, expensive or sentimental (I was wearing my most sentimental, the first jewelry Paul ever bought me), but stolen nonetheless.

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I was at a loss - after over a decade of international travel, I had baggage lost in transit, but returned, beaten up like crazy on the flight, but nothing ever permanently missing.

What are the lessons learned from this for a seasoned traveler?

1. Don't check your bag if you can help it
2. Don't put anything of value in there, and especially not at the top of the bags!
3. Get TSA or airline approved locks where you can
4. Have travel insurance - it wasn't necessary here because it wasn't all that expensive, but I'd be crying a river if expensive jewelry or electronics are taken
5. The airline won't do anything. After a compeletely useless phone call and even more worthless email, their stance is never put jewelry in your baggage. My stance? Never let your workers steal it

After all this, all I can say is I'm thankful it wasn't something more and I have been lucky enough to avoid most travel & baggage mishaps. I know there are lots of people out there you can't say the same, which I unhappily discovered while searching forums on stolen property from baggage. 

Before 2014, I had been to Dubai something like 5 times in the span of just over a year. It's quickly becoming a global hub, meaning that I had more and more reasons to go there.