When the tickets were booked in May, November seemed so far away. Even when school started in September, it felt like November would never come! However, in just 6 days we head to Sydney Australia for the trip of a lifetime. I have been researching, making lists and searching Groupon for months. I feel prepared once we arrive, but it is the preparation to leave that makes me nervous. It has been 20 years since I have flown internationally and I was 22 and single! Now with 3 of us, including an 11-year-old, my stress level is a little higher.
After having a plan in my head the last month we discovered last week that the carry-on luggage rules are different than what we are used to. On domestic US flights, you can have a backpack plus a small suitcase. Internationally in the "economy" class, you can have 1 carry on and a "small laptop bag or a small amount of reading material." My families usual carry on routine is being revamped this weekend!
We are staying almost 3 weeks in Australia and we did not purchase new suitcases. So we only have our small travel carry-on size suitcases. However, we were fortunate to find a place to rent with a washer/dryer. That being said, I have packed only 5-6 outfits per person plus one "cool weather" outfit. This will allow us to get all of our belongings into 3 suitcases. We also have 1 extra suitcase with shoes, snorkeling gear and a life jacket for Simon. We also packed 2 extra duffle bags to bring back souvenirs!
Speaking of souvenirs, our 11-year-old has been saving his money and doing odd jobs in the neighborhood so he can buy Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone, the first Harry Potter book to be published. He has also researched and there are a few other Harry Potter books that were only published in the U.K. and were not distributed to the US. We will see in the next few weeks what type of souvenirs he buys!
I cannot wait to begin to share our adventures with you next week. 5 more days of work and off we go!
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