Ok, before we get going, please understand that it took us a long time to get to this point. We literally had to get Elyce back into mostly functioning mode. A year ago she was practically comatose in the hospital with West Nile Virus, which developed into meningoencephalitis (look it up, it wasn’t a good thing). With the recuperation efforts, this meant we didn’t have a lot of time to do the rest of the prep work normal (or what some might call, “sane”) people would do. So we canvassed friends, relatives, ouja boards, and various animals. The conclusion was to buy some bags with lifetime guarantees on parts, and begin packing.
Simple, right?
T-5 days, let’s do a trial run and pack everything…
Enter Elyce’s full on panic mode. Saturday night, 23:30, and it’s a complete disaster. Elyce is having conniptions, JP is relaxed (he also planned on only bringing 2 pairs of shorts and pants for the journey, plus maybe some other items).
The premise of our initial baggage choices was this: only have carry-on luggage with up to 1 weeks’ worth of clothing. To do that, we purchased small, carry-on, rolling bags that could also be made into backpacks. Yup, our choice to leave our homes and lifestyles and traverse the globe would have to work in a 22Liter bag. Mind you, that’s not 22 liquid liters…No, this is probably smaller. Much, much smaller. Now, this maaaay have worked, IF we were not planning to take layers, and because none of us are skinny people, and traveling as a family of 5, of which it turns out, 4 of us are females, let’s just say we had to make some last minute changes.
Oh, and by the way, we somehow forgot that our adorable, cute, cuddly dogs, Darth and Inqueue, they are also part of our carry-on bags! (Yes they are small enough to fit in a carrier under the seat). And don’t forget our backpacks.
So now, yes, Elyce is allowed to officially start freaking out. Of course, aggravatingly, JP stayed calm and said “there is nothing we can do about this at midnight, we will figure it out in the morning. Before I leave for the recording studio, I will do 2 things: 1. Make breakfast for everyone, 2. Find a place where you can physically inspect bags and buy something new.”
Suffice to say, JP came through (as usual) and made an amazingly delicious breakfast (as usual), and found 2 places to inspect new baggage. By 11a, Elyce and Vered were in a neighborhood store (up in Lincoln Square). They climbed into and out of various bags, threw them against the walls, and tried to see which one most closely resembled a hot dog. In actuality, they talked a lot, Elyce called JP, they talked a lot. In the end, they bought new and larger bags, brought them home, and finally, all is (mostly) better. 🙂 JP was right (as usual) in that we would figure it out.
Just a few of the bags
Now, not to add fuel to this fire, but even with this one small, trivial, non-stressful event behind us, there’s still the mounting stress of our insurance company making it impossible for me to get my specialty pharmacy meds…
Truth be told, we are leaving the US without my medication. Here’s to hoping I can figure it out in Europe?
Shenanigans Crossing Borders 