<p>DH and I were in Chicago a few weeks ago, and we really wish we hadn’t rented a car. Didn’t use it and had to pay for parking.</p>
<p>I’ve decided the tagline for WPI should be: WPI - Harder Than You Think</p>
<p>Yippee - DS got a job! He’ll be working at Macy’s in the stockroom for Ladies’ Shoes. I am highly amused at this assignment!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Now you’ll know when all the good shoes are in stock!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>OMG, that is the “pie” family. We took the kids to Paris when the youngest was 7. Rode the train from the airport into town. So we’re WAY underground, no elevator, many of the escalators broken, Mr. Pie walking ahead while I’m trying to lug my luggage and the little kids’ up the steep stairs. Or a few years later in Venice, off the train onto the water bus…so that’s when we discover that all the charming bridges in Venice are STAIRS and not ramps, so once again the “pie” family is dragging their luggage up and down stairs through Venice. I could go on. (I will say that in Venice I insisted on a water taxi on the way back to the airport.)</p>
<p>BUT, this year D’s drill team went to NYC and rode the subway to various destinations. Most of the girls had never been to NYC OR on a subway. When they got back, their “funny stories” were of the outrageous things they saw on the subway. D just rolled her eyes, having seen a lot more outrageous things on public transportation before!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I won’t speak for her, but I wouldn’t exactly trust my son’s judgment of what the “good shoes” are!</p>
<p>Ooh, memories. My rule for traveling was “you have to be able to handle your own luggage.” We typically each traveled with a backpack and carry-on bag (although sometimes we packed hiking shoes, raincoats, etc., in a duffel H and I could carry between us). </p>
<p>And, yep, public transportation. I remember one hilarious episode in the Edinburgh trainstation (well, hilarious now), trying to get directions from the ticket agent whose very thick accent was unintelligible to both H and me (we asked three times I think where to find the train); and then running back and forth across the station, going up and down stairs, trying to find the right train …</p>
<p>I hope the kids have learned you can find your way around anywhere – though you may at some point have to run like crazy …</p>
<p>That’s H’s complaint about the luggage- people not being able to handle their own luggage. D is prone to packing the minimum number of bags with the maximum amount of stuff. If he is struggling to lift/carry it, how in the heck is she going to be able to manage it? I am probably guilty of the same offense. </p>
<p>missypie, I guess fireflyscout can always give a list of the preferred brands to her son! My frustration is that shoe manufacturers think everyone wears a teeny tiny shoe and there are never any in my huge size. If it were my son working back there, I’d look at the sale flyer and tell him to stash all the 9 1/2 in the shoes I liked until I could get there!</p>
<p>Our funniest (?) story involved switching trains in Switzerland on a ski vacation. The kids were handling their own backpacks but H wheeled all the rest of the stuff - imagine clothes and ski equipment for a week for four people. Well, H moves onto an escalator and is promptly bent over at a 20 degree angle and just can’t hold onto our stuff anymore. Crash, boom bang - all our stuff tumbles down. Thank god there was no one else on the escalator or we would be behind bars on manslaughter charges.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yes, those are the vacation moments where you’re so glad that no one knows you and you will likely never encounter them again! We’ve had our share of those!</p>
<p>Well, the worst was that when we got to the hotel, we were told that we should have arranged for our luggage to be moved from plane to train to hotel -WITHOUT OUR EVER SEEING IT - at no cost!! AAARRRGGGHHH!!
The next year’s trip was much smoother!</p>
<p>Does anyone else have a frequent-flier family member who insists that all of our bags be carry-on? I mean, just because he likes to do a stealth-ninja exit from the airplane doesn’t meant the rest of us want to…</p>
<p>We’ve done that in the past, but with the 3 oz limit on liquids, it’s hard. Sure you can say, just buy a bottle of shampoo when you get there. BUT I’m married to Mr. Can’t Throw Anything Away, so we’d be in a world of trouble if we didn’t finish the over 3 oz bottle of shampoo on the trip.</p>
<p>Yeah, we’re those who typically do everything carry on. If we checked bags, I always told the girls to put what they needed for an overnight and one day in their backpacks (toiletries, change of clothes, etc.). </p>
<p>Until last year all four of us also had premium status on United, so we can check 2-3 bags free, each. (In fact, D2 was so close to premier status, that when she was home at Christmas I flew her from LAX to San Francisco and back, just to make it; H thought it kind of nuts, but she can check bags for free … but she won’t make it this year).</p>
<p>Woody – that would be me! We took a ten day vacation (including a seven night cruise) this winter with only carry-on luggage and did fine. As far as I’m concerned, people bring way, way too much stuff when they travel. I rarely am saying, “darn, I wish I brought more of my closet along with me – I’ve got nothing to wear.” The other benefit is that our luggage doesn’t get lost, nor do we stand around for an hour waiting for the luggage to be unloaded. (Hint: roll clothes, don’t fold them.)</p>
<p>I also like the car rental arrangements where I can go directly to my car and out the exit without waiting in some line in an office. Between not checking in luggage, not waiting for luggage to be disgorged, and not waiting in car rental lines I figure I get back a good four hours per trip. Worth it for me.</p>
<p>Love the public transportation stories. In the case of McSon, I don’t think I was just cooking up brilliant life-prep training occasions spontaneously. I think I was responding to a deep maternal intuition that this particular head-in-the-clouds boy needed the occasional reality tour 
They say your children choose you.</p>
<p>PRJ, so sorry to hear about fatality. My best friend lost her daughter in a similar circumstance, and there’s just no describing what that kind of loss can do to humans. Covering fatals and doing pickups was one of my most hated tasks when I was a journalist. (Pick up means going to the family’s home to “pick up” a photo and if possible, interview the grieving parents.) Unfortunately, I was also “good” at it (meaning people were usually willing to share their memories with me, which in the best case, could be cathartic for them at a time when they just wanted to jump off a bridge.) Which meant that I often got pulled off my own beat (justice – as in courts and legislative challenges) to do them. It was extra hard to see so much of this and then try to be a normal, non-insane parent. (Not that all would agree I’m “non-insane”)</p>
<p>On another topic: Missy, truly, Chicago is one city where you really can get around more easily without the car. Lots of trains to the subs and a reasonable skedder. I’d harass H. into skipping the car, but I am (apparently) a bad wife that way ;)</p>
<p>I miss having “real” public transportation in my sprawling area. When much younger I lived in Montreal and Toronto respectively, and truly only used my car for weekend escapes north. Streetcars are my favorite. I prefer reading on a subway to driving in any city I can think of. As much as I love bucolic vistas, I guess I am a city dweller at heart, since I always enjoyed the people watching and the sense of ‘anything’s possible’ and nothing ever being entirely familiar. Eg. I LOVE New York, but H HATES New York, so the only time I get to go there is on girlfriend weekenders, business meetings or the occasional Broadway weekender with son.
We even tried to lure H. during spring break with a trip to a SCI FI recital by a NAKED woman and, unbelievably, he STILL didn’t end up going.</p>
<p>OTOH, as I age, I also fantasize about building a shack in the woods near a lake with my own two hands, no power, no water, no “stuff” and “roughing it in the bush” Susannah Moody style. Just something about the idea that draws me. Am betting I wouldn’t actually last a week.</p>
<p>I only do carry-on for business travel because I am usually traveling with other people and nobody ever checks a bag, so to do so would hold up the group. The flight is also going to be timed pretty closely to a meeting, by definition, so that extra 20 minutes to collect a checked bag just can’t happen. </p>
<p>We will check bags for family vacations. I think there was a whole thread on airline travel etiquette awhile back. My biggest complaints are with the airlines more than the other passengers. There is no reason they can’t have fingerprint access for frequent business travelers, etc. It used to be frequent fliers could at least fly first class, but now they only use small planes for regional trips so first class doesn’t even exist.</p>
<p>I would NEVER make it on some or your trips!! I pack heavy even when traveling for business. If my fellow travelers (even on business) have to wait for me oh well!! 
It has made from some funny jokes in the office. I refuse to not have what I need so I contingency pack. My D has learned from me and does the same thing. Makes H nuts but he loves it when we are somewhere and he says “Oh it would be nice if we had the tripod or the binoculars or raincoats” and I can magically make them appear. Not for everyone but it has served me well in the past.</p>
<p>Oh yes, we’ve been doing carry-on only for a long time, with the exception of overseas trips. Our first real family vacation that involved flying was when S was in 1st grade, and D was in 4th. We did 4 people for 9 days with no checked luggage. We were in AZ, and had all sorts of variations in weather; sun & heat at a Dude Ranch and snow & cold at the Grand Canyon. I think it helped that the kids were “small,” meaning they wore “small” clothes which took up less space! :)</p>
<p>Firefly, I’d agree with your new tagline for WPI. And congrats to fireflyS on landing a job.</p>
<p>ummmm…both Ds and I are heavy packers for week long vacations. When the airlines went to the 50 lb limit we were shell shocked! We always have 50 lbs each. They take bathing suits and cover ups for every day and shoes in every color. And the hair products, jewelry, purses…oh, my! They change several times a day and never, ever wear anything twice. We used to take an extra suitcase just for shoes! I can laugh about it now but I still don’t think I could pack everything in a carry on for a week! :eek:</p>
<p>missypie, we encountered the same surprise with all the bridges and stairs in Venice. Our hotel was ‘close enough’ to the train station to walk (well almost everything in Venice is close enough if you’re sufficiently motivated/stupid), and of course we did. And then it rained the day we left - we were drenched by the time we made it back to the station.</p>
<p>woody, good that your escalator experience turned out ok! Your Swiss ski trip reminded me of our worst schlepping experience: Milan to Zermatt by multiple trains, with skis in ski bags (when we could perfectly well have rented at the mountain), ski boot bags, etc. When we got to Zermatt, we took the cog railway part way up the mountain, still dragging all the gear, and then a long, snowy path to the inn. And of course all the while dealing with jet lag. </p>
<p>When I used to travel on business, it was so easy … taxis, luxury hotels, usually with carry-ons.</p>
<p>Peonies - Yes, Zermatt was our destination! But it was soooo worth it once we arrived!</p>