We were travelling to Vegas a few years ago and our caching backpack got "picked" by the TSA for closer inspection. They dumped it into one those gray totes and examined the trade items with a puzzled look on their faces. We bumbled through explaining caching to the agents and let one of them keep a pencil that looked like a twig and moved on into the waiting area. Moral of the story - check your caching swag in with the big luggage
If you want to try cross country skiing, start with a small country