Packing light gal packing heavy Urrrr!

Just venting.

Helping DD pack for a multi country 5 week trip with two vastly different climates. Europe cold & wet and central Africa hot and humid. Add in issues of laundry, Safari, weddings (2), couch surfing, presents for friends (including things they shipped to our house, Franks Red Hot, tortillas, and Reese’s). She’s packing heavy. Two 50 pound suitcases and carryon.

She’s traveled carryon most times inc RyanAir in the winter.

Thanks for listening.

Good luck. Can anything be shipped ahead?

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Good luck. Can anything be shipped ahead?

Presumably daughter IS the cheap way the friends want to get their stuff. Having been a courier for expat friends, I understand that.

Sometimes, you just have to pack heavy. My question is - as she unloads, can any of the bags be collapsed - eg carry one duffel that, once it's emptied, can be folded into the other suitcase? I did that on a work trip to Africa where I had a HUGE duffel full of stuff we needed for the project....

Wish things could be shipped. The way things are to be parceled our it wouldn’t work this trip.

Yeah, she’s the schlepper this time. Paying it forward and it’s a way to pay for her couch surfing. Unfortunately, most of it is food or knitted items that cannot be shipped privately.

Thinking about the duffle. But have to think of transportation (trains) and it’ll be easier to have bags on wheels. Figuring out if any of our bags will nest as she goes. Her big issue is that she’s ‘very good for the economy’, she loves her souvenirs. At the very least she’s going to try to pack depending on location. Things needed first in Rome, then Africa, then England.

One thing she has figured out is that she only needs one bag most of the time and has found friends that are willing to store one piece as she travels in the area. She’s already anticipating issues with her three bags and Rome’s puny taxis.

Thanks again for reading this rant.

We have 3 wheeled duffles (Columbia) that nestle inside each other. That might work for her. Columbia is having a 30% off sale this week

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How is she going to move all that heavy luggage onto a train?? Ah, to be young again!

By the time she’s on the train she’ll have lost about 30 - 40 pounds of stuff. Vast majority of it is being given out at her first stop.

She’s done pretty well. One bag at 50lbs, one at 40lbs and her carry on (backpack) is under 7kg. Been thinking of her using our LLBean duffle but it’s not water resistant. She’ll figure it out before she leaves tomorrow.

She’s already anticipating issues with her three bags and Rome’s puny taxis.

 

Tell her to stop worrying about that. Even a small, compact car could handle a passenger with 3 bags, especially since one is a backpack. And I assume the only time she'll have all 3 bags in transport with her will be back and forth between airports/train stations and her lodging; any cabs she'd get at the airport or train station would have no problem accommodating 2 suitcases or large duffle bags, plus a passenger and backpack.

Tell her to stop worrying about that. Even a small, compact car could handle a passenger with 3 bags, especially since one is a backpack. And I assume the only time she'll have all 3 bags in transport with her will be back and forth between airports/train stations and her lodging; any cabs she'd get at the airport or train station would have no problem accommodating 2 suitcases or large duffle bags, plus a passenger and backpack.

She’s now in Rome and the car service sent a driver she’s had several times in the past.

The taxi stand across the street from her Rome apartment was always full of puny cars that would have had trouble with her luggage when coming back to the States. She has stories about the taxis rearranging themselves so she could get the (only) larger one a few times. FWIW her backpack is full carryon size.

She packed all that, she’ll figure it out. At least she only brought three pairs of shoes.