The Suitcases Are Packed - All 13 of Them!
Melinda Murphy Hiemstra
When we didn't have kids, Tom and I could go on a two week trip with one roller bag. Seriously. I covered hurricanes with one bag. I'd pack to shoot two stories back to back - one in the snow, one on a beach and still take only one bag. I honestly didn't check bags for years.
Having with kids has put an end to traveling light.
We have NINE suitcases packed for this trip - about 500 pounds of luggage: 5 giant bags, 4 carry-on roller bags. Heck, if you add our backpacks, that's a total of 13 bags!
One bag is for our tour in China at the end of our stay when we'll need cold weather clothes so that's a must. The other bags are crammed with stuff and, as it turns out, very little of it is clothes for me and Tom. The kids have a wardrobe the Queen of Sheeba would envy. Maisie gets hand-me-downs. Since this is her one 4T summer - and a very long one at that - I didn't want to leave any behind. Hudson will be changing sizes while we're there so he has a double wardrobe. Everything is twice as expensive there as in NY (now that's saying something) so I'm carting them with us. Plus, Tom has a size 13 shoe and I have a size 12 (Much to my dismay, my feet grew a full size when I had my kids). He'll be working there so he needs a lot of shoes. I'm guessing one suitcase is practically nothing but shoes.
Clothes are just the start. We are up to our eyeballs with medicines, snacks, swim floats and the like. Of course, the real culprit is toys.
Each kid has a roller bag to take on the plane that is filled with brand-new, plane-friendly toys. It's not the first 18 hour flight I dread. Nope. I'm worried about the 5 hour layover at the Shanghai airport followed by another 5 hour flight. That's ten hours of attention to be filled.
Oh. My. God.
Going through security will be hell.
Reader Comments (1)
It sounds like an incredible adventure so far. I can't wait to hear more. We miss you tons already.
xoxoxo