Nearly completed packing for our month long trip back East.

I desperately try to pack light whenever we travel and try to only take what I think we will actually wear.  Which is usually still too much!  I often bring an outfit or 2 for myself and the children that I think we will wear if we have something nice to do, etc.  And we never wear the clothes.  Especially for the children it’s hard as they are blessed and have a very nice wardrobe of clothing that I feel is a shame not to bring along…

It doesn’t help that while Fall is my absolutely favorite time in VA and PA it is often the time of year you don’t know what to pack in regards to clothes…will it be warm (I’ve worn flip flops for Thanksgiving before) or will it be freezing (I’ve been so cold at Thanksgiving I couldn’t get warm even after a hot shower).  So we are bringing a bit of everything…

With airlines cracking down on baggage and even charging you for 1 checked bag it has become even more important to pack lightly…our “reward points” trip this time is going to end up costing us close to $325+ for the 4 of us to fly back East…mind you we redeemed 75,000 points for these seats too. Here’s how the $325 adds up…

$200+ for taxes/fees

$125 for checked baggage

Air Canada (our outward bound check-in desk) allows you to check one bag per passenger free as well as one car seat or stroller each (not including any you take on the plane with you).  So on the way out we’ll be fine.  We have 3 tickets (Stella being 2 she gets her own seat, but Sebby at 5 mos. will still be in my lap).  So we get 3 checked bags for free plus we can check 2 car seats for free.  We’ll be gate checking the double stroller and bringing 2 carry-on bags (backpack for Justin and a very large hand bag for me).

On the way back we check-in at United (Air Canada and United have merged).  However, United charges $25 for every item you check…That’s $125–3 bags plus 2 car seats X $25.

It’s not cheap flying a family of 4 anymore and we are pretty minimalist…

We contemplated not taking the car seats but since we’ll be gone for so long and driving a lot we figured the comfort and familiarity of the car seats would be better (not to mention “safer” though I challenge that assumption that a lot of parents make thinking rental car car seats are crap…if you use a reputable/international company you are going to get a decent car seat).  And from a purely financial point of view…car seat rental is $15/day to a max of $45 (for most car rental companies) – so that’s 2 X $45 which is $90 vs. $50 to bring them with us…Not a huge savings but it all starts adding up over time.

We’ve packed minimal toiletries (we can buy them once we arrive) and just enough wipes and diapers to get us there.   If we weren’t going for so long I wouldn’t have packed so many toys.  One small bag checked and a few for the plane.

So a bit of laundry to finish and several loads of things to take to our office for storing until we get back and we’ll be all packed.  Justin still has his clothes to do but it’s mostly done.  I hate leaving it all to the last minute (unlike my husband) as I like a good night’s sleep the night before and I HATE rushing around the morning of the flight.

So we are off at 8AM tomorrow.  Looking forward to seeing all our friends and family back East.