"Pack light. Pack tight. Leave no empty spaces. Use hard sided luggage with good locks. Luggage takes quite a beating on a trip like this. Cloth bags are more likely to split zippers, or get slashed.
Start your packing plan early. You'll be astonished how time disappears once you get your referral. Set aside a place at home to collect stuff for the trip -- shampoo and toothpaste samples, power converters, ziplocks, etc. Put your packing list there, and make a note every time you think of something.
Start your packing plan early. You'll be astonished how time disappears once you get your referral. Set aside a place at home to collect stuff for the trip -- shampoo and toothpaste samples, power converters, ziplocks, etc. Put your packing list there, and make a note every time you think of something.
On the first trip we used:
two hard sided suitcases with end wheels (10" deep x 30" long x 20" high)
one very large duffel bag
two large carry on bags
one camera bag
one video camera bag
one luggage cart
one elastic luggage cord
two fanny packs
two hard sided suitcases with end wheels (10" deep x 30" long x 20" high)
one very large duffel bag
two large carry on bags
one camera bag
one video camera bag
one luggage cart
one elastic luggage cord
two fanny packs
On the second trip we used:
two hard sided suitcases with end wheels (10" deep x 30" long x 20" high)
two carry on backpacks which fit under the airline seat
one camera bag
one video camera bag
two fanny packs
(We also purchased a small suitcase on wheels at the White Swan for extra souvenirs.)
two hard sided suitcases with end wheels (10" deep x 30" long x 20" high)
two carry on backpacks which fit under the airline seat
one camera bag
one video camera bag
two fanny packs
(We also purchased a small suitcase on wheels at the White Swan for extra souvenirs.)
Others brought more but smaller pieces. Any luggage you check should be lockable. You can get tiny little padlocks for zippered duffels, good enough to keep them from unzipping by accident. We could have gotten by with 1 carryon bag. Plan on 1 bag for baby's stuff, 1 bag for each adult. Though you will be using up some consumables like diapers and formula, you will be filling up that same volume with souvenirs, books, postcards, etc.
Don't bring a purse! Bring fanny packs so you can keep your hands free for the baby. But don't put valuables in the fanny pack! Use it for extra film, Kleenex, etc. while keeping the valuables in your money pouch or hotel safe.
Be sure your luggage locks work. Bring extra luggage keys.
Be sure you check with your airline well in advance for any luggage restrictions, and check again 2 weeks out from your trip in case regulations have changed. If possible, it is a good idea to take a sample piece of carry on luggage to the airport and see if it really does fit your airline's requirements.
BE SURE the weaker member of the couple can lift each individual piece of luggage by themselves. BE SURE to take all your luggage on a "test drive" at home before committing yourself. Both of you must be able to schlep your luggage all by yourself over cracked sidewalks, while mom carries baby in the snugli. Don't buy new luggage. Use what you have and borrow from friends, who will have the thrill of looking at foreign luggage stickers all over their bags when you return them.
Since most luggage looks alike, I got some colored tape (like electrical tape) and put green and orange stripes the length of each piece. I used the same color pattern on each piece. If the tape wouldn't stick to the canvas of a duffel, I wrapped the handles. I even taped our carry on luggage, which was never checked. Bumper stickers would work too. ("See Rock City!") We had no trouble spotting our luggage fast as it came out on the conveyor and there was no chance someone else could mistake it for theirs.
Use sturdy luggage tags, and be sure to put your name and BUSINESS address both INSIDE and OUTSIDE your luggage, including the phone number of a contact at home. I taped our luggage tags firmly to our bags, making sure the address showed, in case the tag strap broke, which it did.
We did a full pack of all our luggage 1 week in advance of our departure for our first trip, and I am sure glad we did. I had set one bedroom aside as a staging area weeks before but even so, it took me almost a full day to get it all organized and packed. This was much longer than I had anticipated. Packing a week out also gave us enough time to remember what we forgot, redistribute the weight, rethink our logistics, and most importantly, get a good night's sleep the night before we left.
When you pack your luggage, try to do it on the first floor of your home, rather than wrestle a full suitcase down the stairs. This is no time to throw your back.
Should you pack each person's stuff in their own individual bags, or spread things out so that if one bag is lost, one person won't be left naked? We did one bag per person on the first trip, but carried a one day supply of essentials in the carryons. We spread things out across the luggage on the second trip and I could not find anything for the entire trip. By the time we returned, I had pretty much repacked to one person per bag. This one is up to you.
DO NOT pack your documents. Put them in the carryon. "
Don't bring a purse! Bring fanny packs so you can keep your hands free for the baby. But don't put valuables in the fanny pack! Use it for extra film, Kleenex, etc. while keeping the valuables in your money pouch or hotel safe.
Be sure your luggage locks work. Bring extra luggage keys.
Be sure you check with your airline well in advance for any luggage restrictions, and check again 2 weeks out from your trip in case regulations have changed. If possible, it is a good idea to take a sample piece of carry on luggage to the airport and see if it really does fit your airline's requirements.
BE SURE the weaker member of the couple can lift each individual piece of luggage by themselves. BE SURE to take all your luggage on a "test drive" at home before committing yourself. Both of you must be able to schlep your luggage all by yourself over cracked sidewalks, while mom carries baby in the snugli. Don't buy new luggage. Use what you have and borrow from friends, who will have the thrill of looking at foreign luggage stickers all over their bags when you return them.
Since most luggage looks alike, I got some colored tape (like electrical tape) and put green and orange stripes the length of each piece. I used the same color pattern on each piece. If the tape wouldn't stick to the canvas of a duffel, I wrapped the handles. I even taped our carry on luggage, which was never checked. Bumper stickers would work too. ("See Rock City!") We had no trouble spotting our luggage fast as it came out on the conveyor and there was no chance someone else could mistake it for theirs.
Use sturdy luggage tags, and be sure to put your name and BUSINESS address both INSIDE and OUTSIDE your luggage, including the phone number of a contact at home. I taped our luggage tags firmly to our bags, making sure the address showed, in case the tag strap broke, which it did.
We did a full pack of all our luggage 1 week in advance of our departure for our first trip, and I am sure glad we did. I had set one bedroom aside as a staging area weeks before but even so, it took me almost a full day to get it all organized and packed. This was much longer than I had anticipated. Packing a week out also gave us enough time to remember what we forgot, redistribute the weight, rethink our logistics, and most importantly, get a good night's sleep the night before we left.
When you pack your luggage, try to do it on the first floor of your home, rather than wrestle a full suitcase down the stairs. This is no time to throw your back.
Should you pack each person's stuff in their own individual bags, or spread things out so that if one bag is lost, one person won't be left naked? We did one bag per person on the first trip, but carried a one day supply of essentials in the carryons. We spread things out across the luggage on the second trip and I could not find anything for the entire trip. By the time we returned, I had pretty much repacked to one person per bag. This one is up to you.
DO NOT pack your documents. Put them in the carryon. "
- Marie L. Bartlett-Sloan
-:¦:- Stephe -:¦:-
1 comment:
I've seen those somewhere before - LOL!
Thanks!
Kirby Bartlett-Sloan
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