The Art of International Travel

When we flew to Vermont, we got the customary looks for our kids, the looks that say, "Oh, aren't they cute? I wonder if they're flying for the first time? I hope they behave themselves."

If they only knew.

If I could count the number of times we've flown, I could tell you the number of times we've packed. But if I figured that out, I might start thinking about how many hours of my life I've spent packing and that would be depressing. So let's just say we've packed a lot. And I've decided there are certain laws which apply to international packing. Here they are:

1. In the weeks preceding our departure, I will waver between "we are never going to fit all this in our eight suitcases!" and "we've got plenty of room - let's go buy more!" eventually landing squarely in "Yeah, we have way too much stuff."

2. I will be able to do the first 80% of the packing, after which seeing one item lying around not in a suitcase will cause me to feel violently ill. This is when Erik takes over and does the remaining 20%. It's a good system.

3. U-haul boxes are a thing of beauty and a joy forever. Erik has become an expert at cutting them down from the bottom so they are just within the 62" size limit, and at reinforcing the handles with paint stirring sticks to keep them from ripping. We generally take four of these boxes back with us. This time we're taking 5.

4. Just when you think you have packed most of the stuff in the house, there will be approximately a suitcase worth of last minute items - toiletries, shoes, the clothes you wore yesterday. Prepare for this.

5. Somehow, each time, it will all manage to get in just under the 50lb limit for each bag. (it's amazing to think that we used to be able to take 70lb - we have diminished our load by 160lb!).

Erik hit gold status on United this year, which means we get an extra bag. This adds a new law:

6. Your stuff will expand to fill the amount of space you give it.

For those in Asia - watch for us on Thursday afternoon. We'll be the ones with the obnoxious number of bags.