Packing, Packing, Packing!!!

Okay, I admit it.  It's almost impossible to pack for an 18-day trip where we will be leaving 90 degree temperatures and going to 50 and 60 degree temps.  You just can't take lightweight clothes when you're going to be around glaciers in Iceland and Greenland.

However, while on one of those last minute "gotta see what else we must buy from Costco" trips over the weekend, I stumbled on the vacuum travel bags.  Costco has 12 of them (6 large and 6 extra large) for $24.99.  The beauty of these babies is that you can carry twice as much stuff in half the space.  The bad part is that you have to weigh your bags to make sure you're not going over the weight limit for the flight. 

Our puppy, Liesel, was terrified when Charlie vacuumed the air out of the first bag.  We had loaded up a bag, squished as much air out as we could, hooked up the vacuum to it, and vacuumed out the rest.  Now, there are goods and bads about this also.  We had to repack a couple of the bags because they ended up being too wide for our suitcase.  However, after the first two bags, we got the hang of it, and did the rest of the packing in no time.

ONE REALLY IMPORTANT PACKING TIP:  We always pack half of my clothes and half of Charlie's clothes in each bag so that if one of our bags gets lost, we will still have some clothes each.  We came up with this idea after Charlie's bag with all of his pants and shirts was lost when we arrived in New Orleans for a cruise.  He had to rush like crazy at the port to find a pair of pants and couple of shirts he could wear until we got his bag three days later.

Back to the vacuum bags - I've been cautioned to carry extra bags in case one of more of the bags spring a leak and we have clothes exploding everywhere when we open the bags in London.  Let's just hope the security personnel at the airport don't try to open one of these.  They'll never get all of those sweaters and jackets back in the bag.

My Least Favorite Thing about Traveling

As much as i LOVE to travel - and, make no mistake, I do love to travel - I truly hate the packing and unpacking part.  In twelve days we are leaving 90 degreee plus temperatures to go to London for a Trans-atlantic cruise.  Today's high temperature in London is 72; in Dublin, which is one of our ports, the high will be 64; and in Reykjavik, Iceland, another port we will be visiting, the high today is 57.  So, the dilemma begins.

What do we pack?  We'll be cruising glaciers in Iceland and are then going to Greenland, where it will be even colder.  Do we take heavier jackets?  Or do we take clothes we can layer?  Do I take gloves and hats?  Do I take swimsuits and flip-flops for the ship's Sanctuary and Thermal Suite? 

I remember a few years ago on our first trip to Italy, the Brentwood Six thought it would be a great idea to ship our dirty clothes back home.  Each couple boxed up dirty underwear, socks and clothes and shipped them back home via UPS.  Great idea!!!  WRONG!!!  When we got the bill for our great idea, it was $189 for a box of smelly, dirty clothes that still had to be washed.  UGH!!!

The following year when we went to Germany and Switzerland, we all took our oldest underwear and socks, even old washcloths (most hotels in Europe have hand towels, but no facecloths) and threw them away as we used them each day.  You can just imagine the housekeeping staffs at our hotels when they would empty our trash cans and find dirty underwear, socks and washcloths. 

This weekend will be spent getting out warmer clothes, choosing and sorting them and trying NOT to take everything we "might" need while we are gone.  For Pete's sake, there's a laundry on the ship and we will be at sea on seven different days!!!  I think I can find my way there.....