How to weigh your luggage

I know I've mentioned previously that it's a good idea to take your luggage to a FedEx or other location that has large scales in order to weigh your bags before getting to the airport. I learned the hard way by trying to put 70 lb, HUGE, bulky bags on a small scale designed for people that it doesn't work very well. Um, yeah, it's pointless. Well, not completely a waste since I was successful in weighing our two smaller bags. The rest of them we took to our local grocery store (Publix); E made two trips and we got a general idea of how much each bag weighed. 


The only problem with making trips back and forth to weigh your bags is that once you get home you do a lot of rearranging. You remember that one bag was two pounds over and another was three over, but you have no idea how to exactly make them even without dragging them to the store to weigh them again. That is, until I discovered this....thanks to our friends/neighbors who had just bought a brand new Digital Luggage Scale. Our friend was over and she mentioned that her in-laws had purchased a handheld scale and that it can hold up to 88 lbs; she offered to lend it to us so we didn't have to go to the airport without a good understanding of how much our bags really weigh. Simple, small, and easy to use.

The scale that we used doesn't look exactly like this but it does the job, and you can change the unit from pounds to kilos to grams to ounces. All you have to do is place the bag upright on the floor near a staircase and stand on the (approximately) the third step up. Hook the luggage onto the scale and lift (and I mean lift because remember some of these bags weigh in at 75 lbs) and wait for the scale to give you the correct weight of the bag. I don't suggest doing this unless you're strong or want a hernia, so be careful. Luckily I live with a professional athlete. We were easily, and quickly, able to shift weight and volume among the 3-4 bags that we have that were a bit overweight, once we knew their correct weight. Turns out we actually have about an extra 5 lbs to spare overall. That's amazing news because I was worried about that.  


I feel a hug sense of relief, because we all know how stressful this move has been for me (well, for anyone). So we have almost 560 lbs of luggage - and that doesn't count our carry-ons. I'm not worrying about the weight on those because my carry-on luggage has never been weighed before and I'm going to avoid that at all costs. I know that the cat can only be 10 kg (about 20 lbs) including his carrier but we're safe there. What's left to do then? Finish cleaning the apartment, take a trip to the local GoodWill, pack our carry-ons, and meet friends for dinner.

Turns out there are 8

And so it is....7 suitcases is not enough. It has to be 8. We've already had to make adjustments  as far as what, and how much, we can take with us. But now we have to do it again - in the sense that we had to buy another suitcase. We realistically cannot take all that we had planned in just 7 bags. Although we don't want to pay more for excess baggage (which in the end will fall on my employer), it's better to pay now than to later go in search of the perfect coffee maker (that we already own), among other personal belongings and household items.


I'd prefer to spend $100 now rather than have to go shopping in Brazil where everyone says that many kitchen appliances, for instance, are over priced and at the same time made of low quality material. And this way, moving with 7 suitcases, we should end up with a bit of extra space for more towels, bedding, shirts for me!, and other miscellaneous items that I didn't want to leave behind (i.e. Sebastian's comfortable bed. He'll need something from home, too). I just wonder how we're going to get this all to the airport. Thanks to our friend who will help us get there. We'll have 8 suitcases, 2 carry ons, 2 personal items, and a (crying?) cat. Wish us luck!


Back to our suitcases....each one cannot exceed 70 lbs or we'll be charged extra (which defeats the purpose of us having to add one more bag into the mix). So how do you know if your bag is the appropriate weight? Well, we know that our bathroom scale won't work because it's too small. Only the smallest suitcases will fit. So we've been taking our suitcases to our local grocery store (Publix) since they have a large scale for the public to use. With our first 3 weighed bags we were in luck. They were between 63 - 69 lbs (of course we added weight to the lightest one); however, the 4th weighted 91 lbs! I had to take out heavy items from that one and that's when we knew we need another bag. We'll have to reweigh that bag to make sure that it's no more than 70 lbs. 


So we've completed most our shopping and packing at this point (living in Orlando means outlet malls and shopping malls everywhere). We also have about a week and a half before we're out. I think we've sold our TV, we have a pending cancellation on our TV/Internet, we only have one car and one phone to take care of, I've cancelled credit cards, changed our address with the post office, and we've bought a new carry on bag for me. I learned the hard way that the bag I had planned to take as a carry on to Brazil will not work. It only has straps; I need a rolling piece of luggage, so that's what we bought. If I'm carrying a purse with a laptop and Sebastian, I cannot lug around a bag like I did to New York.  



I'll feel more relaxed once we have at least 6 of our bags packed, weighed, and waiting in the corner ready to be moved (we're about half way there now). This way I can focus on the smaller things as well as spending time with our friends, like the Girl's Night Out coming up this weekend. We're almost there folks! :)

Oops, time to make adjustments

I have too much stuff. I actually know that the "problem" is me so I can't say "we have too much stuff" because that wouldn't be true. Maybe it's because I've lived in the U.S. for 20-something years, maybe I'm a hoarder (I don't think so), or maybe it's because I'm a saver of all books that I read a professional and have to keep my books. Honestly, I like the last option. I don't own that many clothes so that'll make packing easier; regardless of the reason, I have just learned that I need to make some major adjustments as to what I take and what I leave. Now. And most of what I need to chuck needs to be that which is heavy, takes up a lot of space, and does not need to go. It's for that reason that we've already begun our initial packing. 

At least I can confirm that those shoe boxes and the magazine are not mine

We have bought our suitcases and are now ready to begin the real packing process, even though E has been slowly packing away clothes in his smaller suitcase. He knows what he won't wear before we leave and what he wants to take with him (i.e. new shirts and socks) so that can be packed away now. As I'd mentioned earlier, I have two piles of mostly books and papers that I planned on taking with us. Now with the luggage staring me in the face, I've had to reconsider my options. I packed up 5 grocery bags of books and will be donating them to my co-workers tomorrow. I figure if I've read it once than that is enough. Because let's be real, only so much is going to fit in our 6 suitcases and 1 box (plus cat sans carry ons).

These are our new upright Samsonite (chic, I know) suitcases. I kept stressing to E while we were at the store, the importance that they must be large, durable, and expandable - so we didn't buy anything smaller than 30". We've also bought a heavy duty box that I can jam full of 70 lbs of books; I just don't know how we're going to lift it, but I guess we only need to do that a couple of times.....and didn't I marry an MMA fighter? Well, yes, yes, I did :). E also bought a duffle bag-type suitcase which is very large and has wheels. All of our suitcases are cloth. And all of them come from Ross so we got awesome new luggage for a decent price. 


I need to also make a mental note to call TAM and find out how much we're allowed as far as carry on baggage because I heard it's not very much. And then we have the cat so that'll add luggage. We're really going to have an adventure at the airports. That's a fact. But with that being said, this is definitely not my first time traveling/moving abroad and I have had to deal with situations similar to this before so we'll figure it out. Plus, we still have another month, I just wanted to start packing/planning now so I know what we're up against and I can decide on what is really important/necessary to take with us. At least we made a list (which of course we also had to shorten, crossing out items that we now realize that no-way-in-hell will fit in our luggage).

We're getting there folks.