My Life in 50lbs or less

Joe and I will cross the Atlantic on November 1st. Due to his repeated business travel across to Europe and back, he has some kind of special status with United, and we will each be able to check 2 bags for free (in theory anyway). Each of these bags may only weigh 50 pounds at maximum, or we will be charged an overweight baggage fee.

Smart people know how much their suitcase weighs before they arrive at the airport, and are not surprised by the red number on the scale. They have planned accordingly, and they will not have to pay the airline another fee. If you plan accordingly, there is no reason for a bag to be overweight.

Right now, I am in the planning phase. Carefully packing, and repacking my suitcase to make sure I am below that magic number. Yesterday, I packed up 1 of my suitcases, and it weighed about 45 pounds. Yay! Underweight! However, I found myself wondering if I really needed all of the things in my suitcase, which led to unpacking and evaluating my choices this morning.

[Sidebar] Due to the German visa system, we are returning to the States for Christmas and will be resuming our European living experience sometime in 2012 when all of the paperwork is good to go. As such, this will be a quick 6 week sojourn in the Regensburg serviced apartments.

I will not be gainfully employed like my husband and will be responsible for occupying myself for 8 hours a day: I need to pack my entertainment. For me this includes what I like to call "Susie-homemaker crafts", such as sewing and knitting, both of which regularly engage my attention. For me, this means accounting for the weight of the sewing machine in my suitcase. It weighs 20lbs. The suitcase itself weighs 10 lbs. Leaving me with just 20 lbs. for clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc.

In my 1st suitcase I have clothes, fabric, sewing notions, beads, some books, and some shampoo. Today I unpacked it and reviewed my choices. I managed to eliminate 11 lbs. and 11.8 oz. from my suitcase. When packing, we tend to just toss everything in. For instance, I knew I wanted to make some jewelry while I was in Europe, so I packed my bead boxes. Today I examined my bead boxes and realize that I didn't need to bring ALL of my beads, only the ones I intend to use, and for which I have a definite plan. Using this theory, I managed to bring my bead weight from 4lbs down to 2lbs. This may seem negligible, but that is 2lbs I can re-disperse elsewhere.

The main points for packing intelligently:

• Think about what you are taking, and put the heaviest things in your carry-on bags, because these are not weighed by the airline; examples include shoes and books.
• Weigh your baggage before you go to save time.
• Pack things that have multiple uses, example do not bring a shirt that you can only wear with a single pair of pants. This is impractical.
• Wear the bulky clothes you will want with you on the trip; they won't take up space or contribute to your weight allowance.