Help me pack light!!

[hsmamato2]

just back from our 'carryons only' 2 week trip.... here's what we learned.
It worked fine, but my youngest is 10- that means less mess on the clothes,more re-wearing ability. And we had to, as hit that HUGE cold snap that no one expected. That meant that I had to wear the same 2 sweaters as my top layers for a week. it was so cold for so many days,that I'd just change the under layers daily, (on some days, I wore 5 layers plus my jacket) we all rewore jeans for a few days with no problems- I did laundry twice in 2 weeks, (no hardship in those laundry rooms)-
One thing I'd change is to get a rolling duffel next time- other than that it waa fine! Since that weather was remarkably strange,I can't blame that either....I am used to a day here and there of chill in January,but this was crazy! my 10 y/o rewore his shirts so faithfully he didn't even use all the ones he brought...

 

[PEANUT1]

well..we packed light..only carry ons but ended up checking all of the bags
Both flights were totally full and they were asking for volunteers to check their bags for FREE at the gate..so we did it. We had to go to baggage claim anyway to get our carseats..so it worked out great because it was free and we didn't have to carry our bags on the plane.

 

[robinb]

well..we packed light..only carry ons but ended up checking all of the bags
Both flights were totally full and they were asking for volunteers to check their bags for FREE at the gate..so we did it. We had to go to baggage claim anyway to get our carseats..so it worked out great because it was free and we didn't have to carry our bags on the plane.

The same thing happened to me on the way back from Tampa earlier this month. They asked if we wanted to check our carry-ons for free so we did .

 

[RobPickles]

Well... I think we have the big one here to top all the rest.

3 weeks vacation at AKL 8 days and BLT for 2 weeks. My DW, my new baby DD (will be 8 months old by trip time) and myself.

My wife is a CHRONIC overpacker! I have made several comments so far about packing for our trip (even tho it isn't until July) and how much more important it will be to pack LIGHT now with all the additional baby stuff we will need to have with us.

Already considering shipping some stuff down to the hotel before we leave, but we also tend to come home with more than we left with (aka souveniers, tshirts).

Love the advice so far. Need a serious expert to help convince my DW to reform! LOL!

Thanks!

 

[winnapooh]

Well... I think we have the big one here to top all the rest.

3 weeks vacation at AKL 8 days and BLT for 2 weeks. My DW, my new baby DD (will be 8 months old by trip time) and myself.

My wife is a CHRONIC overpacker! I have made several comments so far about packing for our trip (even tho it isn't until July) and how much more important it will be to pack LIGHT now with all the additional baby stuff we will need to have with us.

Already considering shipping some stuff down to the hotel before we leave, but we also tend to come home with more than we left with (aka souveniers, tshirts).

Love the advice so far. Need a serious expert to help convince my DW to reform! LOL!

Thanks!

We just did 19 days this fall...just my husband and myself. However, we didn't really pack light, and paid for it on the way home (we also didn't go light on the souvenirs!) We flew Southwest, so bags are still free, and we each checked two, then each carried on one small bag (one the way down...on the way back, we had to buy another bag and use the one we had packed, so we each had two carryons).

I'm already looking at our next trip to see what we can cut out. Our biggest issue this past trip was that we spent 3 days at AKV in a studio, then 7 days at CSR, then the rest at AKV in a 1 bedroom. We didn't want to have to worry about laundry the first 10 days. That was a mistake!!! For a long stay, I would definitely plan on doing laundry, regardless of whether it's in your room!!! Also, all those extra things you *might* need, just say that you won't need them...like the extra swimsuits, the extra camera bag, just in case you get fatigued carrying the normal one, etc. You probably won't use them anyways!

 

[Dean]

Well... I think we have the big one here to top all the rest.

3 weeks vacation at AKL 8 days and BLT for 2 weeks. My DW, my new baby DD (will be 8 months old by trip time) and myself.

My wife is a CHRONIC overpacker! I have made several comments so far about packing for our trip (even tho it isn't until July) and how much more important it will be to pack LIGHT now with all the additional baby stuff we will need to have with us.

Already considering shipping some stuff down to the hotel before we leave, but we also tend to come home with more than we left with (aka souveniers, tshirts).

Love the advice so far. Need a serious expert to help convince my DW to reform! LOL!

Thanks!

Off to MX coming up at resorts where you have to pay for laundry at $5 a load one resort and $9 per at the other. Told the wife all clothes had to be able to be pilled together to wash, wash by hand in the room or not go. That's tough for her because she's accustomed to washing a few red pieces here, a few white ones there, etc. The other thing we do is save items that are on their last leg like tennis shoes, etc. Take them on a trip and not bring them back. Works best for airline trips where you want have a W/D such as our trip coming up and cruises.

 

[RobPickles]

Off to MX coming up at resorts where you have to pay for laundry at $5 a load one resort and $9 per at the other. Told the wife all clothes had to be able to be pilled together to wash, wash by hand in the room or not go. That's tough for her because she's accustomed to washing a few red pieces here, a few white ones there, etc. The other thing we do is save items that are on their last leg like tennis shoes, etc. Take them on a trip and not bring them back. Works best for airline trips where you want have a W/D such as our trip coming up and cruises.

DVCers get free use of the machines. We have used it in the past at AKL. it was very quiet and calm. The few times there were others there it was fun to chat with them while hanging and doing the laundry. (For a little while at least! LOL!)

 

[Dean]

DVCers get free use of the machines. We have used it in the past at AKL. it was very quiet and calm. The few times there were others there it was fun to chat with them while hanging and doing the laundry. (For a little while at least! LOL!)

That's true, but not generally at Mexico resorts. While I know there are a few exceptions, most MX timeshares charge for self laundry. We ended up only having to wash once in the 2 weeks at $20 total. We did have a very interesting experience on Oahu in 2008 with a W/D combo. They had the all in one W/D which was nice once we figured out how to use it and to allow for it taking almost 5 hours to complete a full wash/dry cycle.

 

[RobPickles]

to allow for it taking almost 5 hours to complete a full wash/dry cycle.

OMG! Yeah I know.. We had looked into getting one for our apartment and all I could think of was HELL NO! Who wants to wait that long for a load of laundry to dry - and not a very large load at that!

 

[Dean]

OMG! Yeah I know.. We had looked into getting one for our apartment and all I could think of was HELL NO! Who wants to wait that long for a load of laundry to dry - and not a very large load at that!

Actually after we got used to it, we really liked it. They are very easy on clothes, even more so than other front loaders, and you can set it and let it run overnight or while you're out. The one we had was a small capacity but they're made in normal capacity as well. For the right applications where you can't do a vent or where space is an issue, they could be a life saver and I'd definitely take on over the small stacking type like at most timeshares. Speaking of which, when I did wash here in Cabo, I started getting water in the floor when we turned on the dryer. As it turns out, those are dryers that need a vent but they are not vented other than into the air in the laundry room.