You wouldn’t know it to look at me, but when it comes to packing…I am a total chick. Yes, I know, I have travelled a lot. I should be used to packing light. I should have one suit and two blouses that I can wear for a week and a half in stunning but efficient combinations. I should roll one petite and lithe suitcase onto the plane at my heels and effortlessly slide it into the overhead. Then take my seat looking fresh, graceful and mildly bored with the long flight ahead of me…
Instead, I am a chick. Being a chick means I have a multitude of cosmetics that travel with me. It means that using hotel shampoo and conditioner is waaayyyy too risky for my chick hair, and while I can cram my necessary products into 3.5 fl oz bottles designed for travelers like me – the amount of little bottles I need will more than fill a quart sized ziplock bag that the TSA requires. I need my lotion, my sunscreen, my hairbrushes, and my cosmetics. Being a chick also means that I need multiple accessories, like: more than one pair of shoes. Actually, I need more than three pairs of shoes…and, in the spirit of full disclosure….I frequently take more like six pair along with me.
So, chick that I am, when I travel for more than a weekend, I check a bag. I check a big bag. When I realize that I have a little extra room in my suitcase – I don’t pick 5 items that I probably can struggle through without so that I can downsize to a carry on sized bag…I add 10 more things until that big suitcase is full. That’s right, people. I am THAT girl.
It turns out, that when it comes to packing….the Hubbz is a bit of chick too (In a very masculine and manly way, of course)! This is perhaps why we are so compatible: that “think it through and prepare for every scenario” compatibility. So, as we gathered the items that had to make the immediate journey with us to Stuttgart, we realized....we were bringing a lot of stuff!!
Future PCS’ers…I am here to tell you this: check the baggage allowances on the airline you’re using to get overseas. Consider the ridiculous practice that airlines are now implementing in which they charge you for each bag, with an extra charge for out weighing their imposed single bag weight limits. I swear I saw dollar signs flash across the eyes of the very kind woman who checked us in for the flight. Because, get this, we rolled up on the airport with: four suitcases, one large seabag, a military issue backpack that was bigger than any I had ever seen before, two laptop bags and my large carry on bag which was a LARGE LL Bean Boat and Tote with my purse and various other items stuffed inside. (PRODUCT ENDORSEMENT: Highly Recommend the LL Bean Boat and Tote, btw. I have two and I truly do want one in every size!!!).
We had, in a fit of inspiration, decided to check the baggage allowance for our carrier when our packers reached critical status (we figured if we got to the realm of utterly ridiculous, we could off load items to the express shipment). We then discovered that this carrier would permit 3 bags of 100lbs each without charge for Hubbz as he was traveling on orders (phew!). My elite status allowed two bags under 75 lbs for no charge – and the rest we humped through the airport, praying that the gate agent wouldn’t demand a gate check as we boarded our first small regional jet.
I am happy to report that not only did we arrive with all of our carry on baggage in our possession – but that we were reunited with each and every one of our beloved bags at the luggage carousel in Stuttgart! Ah, it was a happy reunion. I smiled and offered to help as my big strong Hubbz loaded up the luggage cart with our multitude of house sized suitcases. I smiled broadly as with Herculean strength, he pushed the cart through customs and I sashayed along next to him carrying only my purse…and then it hit me like a ton of bricks….How the heck are we going to fit all of this into our hotel room??
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