The eve before setting off, bags are packed
I'll be initiating my trip tomorrow morning. Looking back the last year, a lot of things have come together to make this happen (the flight was just a small component).
These last few days (after my jaunt down to Seattle), I've wrapped up a few things at home. I've got my checked bags fully packed, and am just finalizing my carry-ons this evening.
I'll be taking a stopover in my old university town for a week, so have made arrangements for a rental car, hotels, and friends. I'm excited about that part. Then it's just a trans-Atlantic flight and a bus ride. So how do I pack and move a year's worth of stuff?
Like everything, with quite a lot of foresight, analysis, and improvisation. My overall budget is two checked bags (23KG each), and two carry-ons (10KG each). I already will have to pay for my second checked bag, so knew from the outset that I would try and travel light. The first constraint I introduced was to maximize the value of what I brought: if every extra kilogram has an incremental cost of $10*, then I had better make sure that what I'm packing has at least that value, either in terms of replacement cost in the UK, or sentimental value.
Some things are unavoidable (laptop, dress clothes, some toiletries), but books/supplies/games are off the table. For the rest, I had to look at items on a case by case basis. Thus, my docking station and spare monitor made the cut, but certainly not all my clothes, electronics, or household items.
That was the analysis. But what about improvisation? Well, truth be told, some things I do have safely packed away are those that would not make the cut with the above criteria. I've got some swag items from PAX, booklets, T-shirts, and novelties, that take up lots of space, and aren't really worth anything in monetary terms. However, they do represent stories, and I'll be sharing them with some friends at my stop.
In the end, the best laid plans need adjustment. I had wanted to pack my bags such that I wouldn't need to access my checked bags during my week long stop-over, or at worst, only dig through the top of one of them. In the end, I had to intermix items, mostly due to carry-on restrictions, and also bumping against the limits of my checked bags. I'm either at the limit, or potentially above by up to half a kilogram, but this shouldn't require me to pay over-weight fees.
Overall, I feel good about where I am with what I'm bringing, and perhaps more important, what I'm leaving behind. In both cases, not that much.
*This is based on the fact that extra checked bags beyond two cost $225 each.
These last few days (after my jaunt down to Seattle), I've wrapped up a few things at home. I've got my checked bags fully packed, and am just finalizing my carry-ons this evening.
I'll be taking a stopover in my old university town for a week, so have made arrangements for a rental car, hotels, and friends. I'm excited about that part. Then it's just a trans-Atlantic flight and a bus ride. So how do I pack and move a year's worth of stuff?
Like everything, with quite a lot of foresight, analysis, and improvisation. My overall budget is two checked bags (23KG each), and two carry-ons (10KG each). I already will have to pay for my second checked bag, so knew from the outset that I would try and travel light. The first constraint I introduced was to maximize the value of what I brought: if every extra kilogram has an incremental cost of $10*, then I had better make sure that what I'm packing has at least that value, either in terms of replacement cost in the UK, or sentimental value.
Some things are unavoidable (laptop, dress clothes, some toiletries), but books/supplies/games are off the table. For the rest, I had to look at items on a case by case basis. Thus, my docking station and spare monitor made the cut, but certainly not all my clothes, electronics, or household items.
That was the analysis. But what about improvisation? Well, truth be told, some things I do have safely packed away are those that would not make the cut with the above criteria. I've got some swag items from PAX, booklets, T-shirts, and novelties, that take up lots of space, and aren't really worth anything in monetary terms. However, they do represent stories, and I'll be sharing them with some friends at my stop.
In the end, the best laid plans need adjustment. I had wanted to pack my bags such that I wouldn't need to access my checked bags during my week long stop-over, or at worst, only dig through the top of one of them. In the end, I had to intermix items, mostly due to carry-on restrictions, and also bumping against the limits of my checked bags. I'm either at the limit, or potentially above by up to half a kilogram, but this shouldn't require me to pay over-weight fees.
Overall, I feel good about where I am with what I'm bringing, and perhaps more important, what I'm leaving behind. In both cases, not that much.
*This is based on the fact that extra checked bags beyond two cost $225 each.