Packing Up and Shipping Out

There are lots of ways you pay when you are travelling. First you pay when you book your travel. That's the easiest and most painless part. You pay when there are no porters and you have to actually move your luggage yourself. For us, travelling by train was great but the beginning and end of the journey was especially tough because we had to get our bags on board and find a place to store them. Lou has muscles in places I'd forgotten about. She needed them too, because the wheels on her bag broke early in the trip so she was dragging her heaviest suitcase around as well as managing a fully packed carry on, a gigantic handbag and a backpack. She also helped me lift my suitcase on and off each day, so whilst my feet and knees paid, so did her back. 

You pay when you purchase your souvenirs (not only with money, but with the brain power needed to constantly convert Pounds to dollars, Euros to dollars, Lira to dollars and at the same time keep track of your credit card account balance which grows exponentially without you even trying.

But you really pay when you have to pack to come home. It hurts my triceps trying to roll my clothes into small cylinders, and the chunkier you are, the more you have to roll. It is stressful trying to stuff items into shoes, or down crevices between things and I know It shouldn't but a little part of me dies every time I place the Elsa and Anna dolls face down in the case and dump clothes on top of them. It's certainly no way for a Disney Princess to travel.

You pay when you have to ship ANOTHER box home because the stuff won't fit in your bag. So far between us we have sent over 28 kg home this trip plus a box from the Bruges Christmas shop and a platter the size of Lou's carry on from Lucca.

There is, however, a pay off that balances it out. All this pain means it's time to head home, to bore people with our constant travel stories and it means we get to see our family and friends again. 

 So put the kettle on or get the Southern out, Den and Lou are heading home today!