The Perfect Luggage

4/13/08 The Perfect Luggage
Today, someone asked me how do you pack for a 4 month trip to Europe. I said, "Easy, I can only take what fits into the car." However, it is not so easy since we will be in Europe for spring and summer. You can never really predict the weather in Europe. I remember one May we went to Germany and was shocked when temperatures dipped into the 40's and then even into June it never reached higher then 70 degrees. I ended up buying extra clothes that trip since I was so not equipped for the weather. Though back to my answer to my friend. We are really limited as to how much we can bring since it all needs to fit into the mini-van and that is after you add the bodies. Not much room! I am planning to take 5 days of spring/winter clothes and 5 days of summer clothes for each child. I will encourage my husband to take as little as possible, so I can have a few extra pair of shoes for every and I mean every occasion. I love shoes! I love clothes! It is going to be hard for me to stick to my rules that I made for the rest of the family. Which brings me to the title of this post The Perfect Luggage-I have discovered duffel bags with rollers. I used to hate duffel bags and loved my hard luggage; however, hard luggage does not adapt to being squished and crammed into small spaces. I have bought one duffel bag for each member of my family. The bags that don't fit in the trunk can be placed below the children's feet. I might have to change this strategy when they get older and no longer have room below their feet. Duffel bags with rollers can be bought at Eddie Bauer for around a $100 a bag though I found at the outlet mall last years models for $50, and even cheaper at Costco for $25 dollars. I found the $25 bags only after I had purchased the $50 bags. I can honestly say thank goodness for a furnished apartment because this saves us from having to bring or buy all those items you just can't live without. We will also bring with us the baseball and gloves, a Nerf football, soccer ball, and a chess board. The boys are going to learn what we call going Amish. The four months we are over there they will have no computer, no Xbox, and no TV. They will have their Game boys, but they will have to learn to entertain themselves for the first time. Say a prayer for me that we don't kill each other as we convert from a 3600 sq foot home to a small three-room apartment.

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