egads, it’s great to be right and have it recognized!
So my daughter is gone for 11 weeks for study abroad…4 weeks in Brussels and then traveling to 5 cities, a week at a time, and then returning.
While she was packing, I kept saying to her, “this is completely and utterly ridiculous to bring this much stuff.” She had packed one large suitcase (but still possible to bring onto the plane) and then one really really large suitcase (that would have to be checked) and then a school backpack. So it would essentially be her dragging two large wheeled suitcases behind her with a heavy pack on her back.
To make matters worse, two of her international schoolmates came home with her because it was easier for them to fly out of our city rather than returning to their home nations. And they had even more packed than her!
So we head out to the airport last night…through non-stop nagging, I have convinced my daughter to at least pack a bit less in each suitcase. With the friends, no impact.
We get up to the checkin counter and the desk agent says, “no way we can take bags this overpacked for free. It’ll be $100 extra per bag.”
HA (and all of you will appreciate that i say nothing. Give no glances. Have no smirk.)
They have no money to do this so they begin unpacking their bags and putting stuff in D’s bag (who’s still under the weight limit) and then have to carry the rest in their backpacks.
They leave.
They get to London and go to their very affordable and well-situated hotel only to discover that it’s a 4-floor walkup with no lift!
My daughter just skyped me with a one-line message. “Yes, I know.”
She should check out travelfashiongirl dot com Everything you need to know to survive out of a carryon for months in all types of weather and still look good.
Bet you she will ditch a lot of this excess baggage on the way.
I think the overpacking lesson is one most of us have leaned the hard way at some point early in our traveling lives, especially once we figure out there will be more we want to bring back than we left with.
I admit I’m still somewhat of an overpacked. But I learned one lesson when I was in my 20s and I probably took half of my “nice” clothes on a trip. Someone broke into the rental car, stole my luggage, and of course nothing was ever found. i hope nothing similar happens to your D.
My daughter somehow managed to become a champion at light packing. She left at the end of June for an entire calendar year of study abroad with one large suitcase (still under the 50 lb limit) and one heavy carry-on. She came home for 2 weeks at Christmas, bringing stuff she didn’t need anymore with her, and went back with her gifts (mostly clothes.) Now that her academic year is over, and the winter in the south of France has passed, she will be mailing us her sweaters and winter coat. Even after buying clothes in France (I see her credit card bills, so I know), she says she can make it all fit in her one big suitcase and carry-on, and not have to pay any fines when she comes home in July.
The other people on her program had massive suitcases and lots of fines. I would be in that category, I’m afraid.
I think this is one lesson that only experience can teach, honestly. You have to live the reality of how annoying it is to lug stuff around before you realize that it’s a lot less irritating to live without something for a short period than it is to lug around stuff you don’t strictly need.
I do tend to overpack if I’m going to one destination, i.e. a resort, for a week and settling in, because it doesn’t matter. But on any kind of trip where you’re constantly moving around, it’s much more pleasant to make do with less, especially if you are traveling on trains where there is no room for big suitcases.
My daughter is doing a semester at Disney. Her apartment is like a dorm and she needed to bring bedding and towels, etc. She’s survived with what she could bring in 2 duffel bags (thank you Southwest Airlines), and that included some really stupid stuff like a record player (yes, a 1950’s style turntable). I’m not sure how she’ll get it home because I’m not there to pack it all for her (folding? why would she fold anything?). I’m thinking the sheets, towels, and other non essentials (non-essential to her eyes, she didn’t even want to bring towels) will be tossed. I know she’s purchased 9000 t-shirts and sweatshirts, and she’s in a wedding so had to have the bridesmaid dress shipped to her there so she could make sure it fit. More coming home than going out.
@twoinanddone, A semester at Disney? We (D and I) are Disney freaks! Not sure though that she’ll do a semester there.
@SouthernHope, what study abroad program has this kind of itinenary? Four week in one place and then five weeks in five different places? I want to go.
My DD2 is a certified clothes addict but moves frequently, including internationally. When she moved to work in Hong Kong (yes, at Disneyland there) she took way more than she needed and ended up leaving 1/2 of it there when she moved back to the US. I do have to say, she is doing much better and has learned how to pack. My DS2 is doing a 5 week international trip this summer backpacking around and is taking only a very small backpack with 3 shirts, 1 pair of shorts, 1 pair long pants, a few socks and underwear and that’s it.
Wow, that’s not much. I traveled backpack all over Europe for nearly a year but I had more than that. Kids in Europe (at least in the 80s) knew how to do it, I learned alot from them. Most of the hostels I stayed at could either point you to a laundry or had one on site. Is this a supervised program of some sort? I don’t find a lot of American kids that backpack Europe anymore, although I keep encouraging both of mine to do it.
No- it is not supervised. He is spending 2 weeks in Nicaragua first with a supervised medical program and then going straight to Europe to meet friends- they have a rough itinerary but are mostly winging it. He has traveled a lot and says he will be find. I feel like he needs more but am staying totally out of it. Oh- I did forget that he is taking a light Patagonia fleece pull-over.
DD and DS each got by with travel backpacks when we went to Europe last year. I had a wheeled carry-on and a shoulder tote (including some things for family use) and DH had a wheeled carry-on and backpack. It made us nimble for travelling.
My carry-on was quite heavy, so DD whisked in a few times to help me on the stairs… including a few bridges over canals in Venice
One study abroad program my daughter is looking at is in Italy. It’s one month each in three different cities, so moving three times. I think packing light would be wise.