Maggie made a funny comment before we left about how packing is stressful and she's glad she didn't have to pack for a trip like this. I agree-- packing is stressful! I have two quick thoughts on handling What/How to Pack.
1. Write out a list on Microsoft Word of EVERYTHING you think you will need on your trip. Lay it ALL out on the floor, and make a checkmark by each item as you lay it out. THEN put it in your suitcase, making a second checkmark, so you know what went in. Save that list for the next time you make a similar trip. I have one called Ski Trip packing list, for instance. If you make the trip and weren't missing anything, then you've struck gold and you never have to stress about packing for that type of trip again because you have your list.
2. On your packing list, separate into one category the absolute basic essentials: passport, cash, credit cards, itineraries, medications, etc. Most other things you can always buy on your trip, but these are the things that could end your trip early. Running out of undies is no big deal.... running out of cash in a country with no cash machines is very bad.
Bonus--- 3. Type out your entire itinerary with dates, times, places, relevant emails and phone numbers. Goof around with small font size until you can fit it onto a credit card sized printout (double sided if you need to.) Take that to Kinkos and laminate it. Keep it with your money. Now you always know what's going on without needing your computer or digging through a bunch of printouts. Make a second one for emergency contact information in case it's needed during the trip.
A small miracle occurred shortly before the holidays. That is that Jodi said we could buy some proper luggage for the first time in our lives. I knew we would be moving around a lot and having to walk through Southampton, London, subway/train stations, big airports, etc. I really did not want to be tugging along our hand-me-down luggage with the too-short handles which hit the back of our feet and want to tip over all the time.
Also, because we have to have everything from black tie, formal-dress outfits, to down coats and hiking/camping clothes, we have a lot to bring on this trip. As it turns out, we would not have fit into our old luggage anyway. We would have had to check a third bag and pay luggage fees on every leg, which would be bad. With the new luggage, we fit into two checked bags and two carry ons (my small silver one, which I got at Costco in St. Louis Park a month before the trip for like $40, and Jodi's backpack. If you need a carry-on bag, GO GET THAT COSTCO ONE!!! It's awesome for $40!)
It turns out that a major online luggage store is based in Minnetonka, right by the Best Buy behind Target. http://www.luggagepros.com/ They have a retail storefront there, so we could check out lots and lots of different pieces. And they sell stuff there for the same prices as their online store, so it's the rare chance to see things in person and still pay low, online prices.
I wanted something with four good wheels, a solid case shell (so rain is no problem), and good zipper pockets inside. We looked at everything they had, including $1,000+ pieces which we would never buy. By far, both our favorite was this Samsonite Silhouette. Forgive me for including a link which shows their pricing.... I'm not trying to share what our luggage cost but simply allow you to go get the same thing if you want. And hey, this luggage already saved us enough in checked bag fees to offset buying one of the pieces, just on this trip!
This link is for the really big one. For most normal uses (unless you are a huge packer) you would probably want the next size smaller (the middle one in my above picture.)
http://www.luggagepros.com/samsonite-silhouette-12-hardside-30-spinner.shtml
We were going to only get the big one and then use one of our old crappy ones for this trip. Then Jodi found out that the pieces nest inside each other for storage and she wanted to get the medium-sized one, too, which I had wanted to get all along anyway. it was pretty funny. She told the sales guy "I didn't even want the first one, but now that I know they nest, I want them both!" Another sweet feature is an integrated TSA lock on the case which the zippers go right into. No more dealing with those little locks!
Jodi used the big bag and I used the medium one. Now for the next miracle item, without which I could not have fit my stuff for this trip. That luggage place, and REI and others, sell these bags you can put your clothes in and then push out all the air so they get very thin. You just ziplock the end of the bag, and then push the air out of one-way valves at the end. If you lay on the bag, you can get them really thin. The bags then fit right into your suitcase.
The other great thing is you can use those bags to segment your stuff. I had one bag full of camping/hiking clothes, which I never had to open until we got to Rwanda and needed it. And obviously by then I didn't need my black-tie stuff, so into a bag that went.
http://www.luggagepros.com/eagle-creek-pack-it-compressor-set-s-m-l.shtml
In the pic below, I don't even have the bag very full.
 |
Still, though, clothes hold a lot of air!
After smooshing! Takes like 15 seconds to smoosh the air out.
The bags fit right in the luggage.
Depending how you stuff them, the bags can leave some nice space around the edges for shoes or whatever.
What I like with the Samsonites we got it that both halves of the suitcase has a full-zippered enclosure, so no matter what, all your stuff isn't going to jump out when you open it. For the flight to NY, I put my hiking backpack on what you see in the picture below and still got the suitcase closed just fine.
In closing on this fascinating topic.... how has the luggage performed on our trip? FRIGGIN' AWESOME! We had some very long walks through the tube in London, and it was quite easy to push the luggage along on four wheels. The way they both open into halves, we could push them under our bed on the cruise ship and then pull them out like a drawer to get things when we needed. Our old luggage would not have fit under the bed.
The hard shell is nice so we don't have to worry about getting rained on. These bags should last us many, many years, and just thinking about packing into them on future trips instead of our old ones actually makes me feel happy. So I'm super happy we got them, and I think by now Jodi is, too. ;-)
No comments:
Post a Comment