Thu 24 Feb 2005
Posted by Travelman under Travel
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It never fails.
No matter where we’re going, no matter how well I’ve planned, I turn into a witch the night before a trip.
“Chill!” the kids beg. But I can’t.
I’m a packing worrywart, and my family hates it. I worry we’ll forget an essential duffel. (We once arrived in Cape Cod without one daughter’s suitcase.) I worry we’ll forget essentials (like the time we got to Colorado without another daughter’s ski parka). I worry we’ll need the one item in the first-aid kit that I neglected to buy. (When one child fell into some jumping cacti at Joshua Tree National Park in California, we discovered we’d forgotten the entire first-aid kit.)
I worry so much about what I think we might need that I end up overpacking. My husband takes things out of the bags as quickly as I put them in. And with airlines now charging for overweight bags (typically $25 for bags weighing more than 50 pounds), I know he’s right.
Some tips: Quick-dry fabrics are much lighter than other types of clothing and are more practical for everyone in the gang. So are dark colors. And look for lightweight duffels.
But that won’t help if the bags get lost, as they do so often these days. The U.S. Department of Transportation received more than 11,000 reports of lost luggage per day last year—the highest figure since 1990. We’ve arrived in the Caribbean without baby clothes and in Wyoming without our skis. One mom told me her solution is to pack some clothes for each member of the family in each bag. “That way, if one or two of the bags get lost, everyone will still have something to wear,” she said. One traveling dad told me he puts essentials (like bathing suits) in the carry-on bags.
More and more people are opting to ship luggage in advance through UPS, Fed Ex, or companies such as Luggage Concierge or Luggage Forward. Though not cheap, these services can guarantee that your bags will be there when you arrive—something airlines apparently can’t do.
Before every trip, I think about paring down to the absolute essentials. But before I know it, my duffel is bulging. What could you absolutely not manage without? (Send your list to me at eileen@takingthekids.com.)
When my 15-year-old was little, the necessity list would have included white cloth diapers (her security blankets). Travel-book author Laura Sutherland never leaves home without duct tape (wrapped around a pencil), moleskin (for blisters), and a sewing kit. “I’ve used it to repair various clothes, as well as suitcases and shoes, with dental floss as thread,” Sutherland said of the kit.
Washington, D.C., mom Carol Seitz packs supplies. “With one in diapers,” she said, “I always make sure I have at least 24 hours of diapers and wipes in a carry-on … so I don’t have to run to the store first thing when I arrive.”
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