Mind the
Luggage Gap
Luggage Gap
I made a vow ages ago on two things:
1) I would never check luggage unless absolutely necessary.
2) Unless traveling for work (i.e. they paid for my transport) I would never use a suitcase.
These conclusions may seem odd to you, but let me divulge the top 3 reasons for such seemingly drastic decisions.
REASON 1: The plan was hatched on my mission when, every 6 weeks--without fail--I had to move house. It could be from house to house, from one floor of an apartment building to another or simply two down the hall from each other. Point being, I learned how to pack efficiently but I hated doing it every. six. weeks. Pack and roll, pack and roll.
REASON 2: Studying in Europe. Somehow despite my mission I still made the mistake of taking suitcases to Spain. After a pre-school two week layover in London to see the bestie, I was ready to chuck them (so, imagine my disgust four months later.) When my parents came to see me in December I felt awful because they too had brought suitcases. When I went to meet them at the airport to show them the way to their hotel, we had to lug them up and down metro stairs and along cobbled streets. I think they hated it too.
REASON 3: Granny panties. That's right, granny panties. When I graduated from Uni I did my falshpacking around the world. My first stop was New Zealand to visit the family at the Jr. Down Under. My cousin David picked me up from the airport, where we waited... and waited for my luggage to come. Apparently it hadn't made the quick transfer like I had in L.A. and wouldn't be coming until the next day's flight. After giving them his address, we went home to the house he was staying in. I felt disgusting after over 24 hrs of travel and wanted to shower but had no clothes! The elderly lady Dave lived with provided me with some under garments (awesome, I know) and Dave found some clean jeans and a hoodie for me to wear. Let's just say I never want to repeat that experience.
NEW! Reason 4: Upon leaving Duncan's place at Maida Vale, Amy and I booked it to Waterloo Station to take the train out to Martin's Heron where my parents would pick us up. Unfortunately that experience was not kind to Amy's suitcase. Thus, on day four of our vacation Amy had a broken suitcase to handle...without a handle. With reason #2 clearly emblazoned in my mind (and the reason I had my backpack), I felt awful watching her lug it around (note I did help and volunteered to help more than she'd let me!) Luckily in Switzerland my friend's roommate had a car so he could come pick us up/drop us off at the airport (crisis averted) but Paris and London return were not so nice...and to compound problems Amy got really sick. Paris was a bit of a hike to our hotel so we decided to take a taxi to the train station, not bad! However, from there it went kind of down hill. Up and down stairs then up and down more stairs and through securities at the station. Oh, then there was getting her suitcase on and off the train and down the escalators in London.
The icing on the cake for me (she had long been finished) was when we discovered the hotel we were staying for the night didn't have a shuttle as they'd originally said. Instead of taking a bus, I said we should take a taxi, which we did but to the wrong hotel. It was 11:30pm, we had no more cash, were dead tired and made up 1 1/2 sick people. I envisioned myself hauling mine and Amy's suitcases a half mile down the street to our correct hotel in the horrible wind outside. Not fun, but I'd do it because I couldn't envision Amy being able to take one more step. While the hotel tried to "help" us, I was thinking up any scheme I could to get us down to the correct hotel without money and without Amy touching her broken, mangled suitcase. Yes, it all worked out in the end... but also reminded me of why I invested in two travel packs and why I love being a member of REI.
1) I would never check luggage unless absolutely necessary.
2) Unless traveling for work (i.e. they paid for my transport) I would never use a suitcase.
These conclusions may seem odd to you, but let me divulge the top 3 reasons for such seemingly drastic decisions.
REASON 1: The plan was hatched on my mission when, every 6 weeks--without fail--I had to move house. It could be from house to house, from one floor of an apartment building to another or simply two down the hall from each other. Point being, I learned how to pack efficiently but I hated doing it every. six. weeks. Pack and roll, pack and roll.
REASON 2: Studying in Europe. Somehow despite my mission I still made the mistake of taking suitcases to Spain. After a pre-school two week layover in London to see the bestie, I was ready to chuck them (so, imagine my disgust four months later.) When my parents came to see me in December I felt awful because they too had brought suitcases. When I went to meet them at the airport to show them the way to their hotel, we had to lug them up and down metro stairs and along cobbled streets. I think they hated it too.
REASON 3: Granny panties. That's right, granny panties. When I graduated from Uni I did my falshpacking around the world. My first stop was New Zealand to visit the family at the Jr. Down Under. My cousin David picked me up from the airport, where we waited... and waited for my luggage to come. Apparently it hadn't made the quick transfer like I had in L.A. and wouldn't be coming until the next day's flight. After giving them his address, we went home to the house he was staying in. I felt disgusting after over 24 hrs of travel and wanted to shower but had no clothes! The elderly lady Dave lived with provided me with some under garments (awesome, I know) and Dave found some clean jeans and a hoodie for me to wear. Let's just say I never want to repeat that experience.
NEW! Reason 4: Upon leaving Duncan's place at Maida Vale, Amy and I booked it to Waterloo Station to take the train out to Martin's Heron where my parents would pick us up. Unfortunately that experience was not kind to Amy's suitcase. Thus, on day four of our vacation Amy had a broken suitcase to handle...without a handle. With reason #2 clearly emblazoned in my mind (and the reason I had my backpack), I felt awful watching her lug it around (note I did help and volunteered to help more than she'd let me!) Luckily in Switzerland my friend's roommate had a car so he could come pick us up/drop us off at the airport (crisis averted) but Paris and London return were not so nice...and to compound problems Amy got really sick. Paris was a bit of a hike to our hotel so we decided to take a taxi to the train station, not bad! However, from there it went kind of down hill. Up and down stairs then up and down more stairs and through securities at the station. Oh, then there was getting her suitcase on and off the train and down the escalators in London.
The icing on the cake for me (she had long been finished) was when we discovered the hotel we were staying for the night didn't have a shuttle as they'd originally said. Instead of taking a bus, I said we should take a taxi, which we did but to the wrong hotel. It was 11:30pm, we had no more cash, were dead tired and made up 1 1/2 sick people. I envisioned myself hauling mine and Amy's suitcases a half mile down the street to our correct hotel in the horrible wind outside. Not fun, but I'd do it because I couldn't envision Amy being able to take one more step. While the hotel tried to "help" us, I was thinking up any scheme I could to get us down to the correct hotel without money and without Amy touching her broken, mangled suitcase. Yes, it all worked out in the end... but also reminded me of why I invested in two travel packs and why I love being a member of REI.
1 comment:
hahahaha. oh my...This devil suitcase was not given a proper burial. It was not given a thank you for the millions of miles traveled. It was heaved into the rubbish bin with a 'good riddance' and thanks for failing me when I needed you most, heave.
Thanks for putting up with it like I had to. What a pain in the arse!
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