We Be Trippin’

Sometime this summer we’re going to Alaska. Actually, we’re flying to Texas and then Vancouver and then we’re getting on a big boat and we’re going to Alaska. My inlaws have generously invited us on this adventure and everyone is looking forward to it. Big time. But it’s all that flying that gives me pause. We will be in transit to and from our boat for almost 12 hours on the front and back end of our trip and I’m sure it’s worth it, but all that flying makes me nervous because since we’re going to have transfers, I worry about the airlines losing our luggage. I always prefer to travel with just carry-on luggage if possible, but with the little ones, it hasn’t been possible for long time. But now that they are getting older, we’ve decided we’ll try it on this trip, so we made a rule: everyone gets one back pack and one rolling suitcase. Matt and I will also be carrying the kids’ booster seats (bases only – high-backs aren’t allowed for air travel).

My mom knows my struggle against too many toys and too much junk around our house, so she is always on the lookout for good, useful things for the kids’ birthdays. So this time I pointed her to suitcases for the kids. They already have little weekender sized ones and Matt and i have full-sized carryon ones, but the kids don’t. After research, we decided on rolling duffels from LL Bean. They can squish easily and especially with the kids’ gear, that’s perfect. I also know they hold up well because their largest duffel has been safely shuttling our family’s ski-gear to and from the mountains for almost 6 years now. And it still looks awesome.

These will travel well, but there is still the matter of space. We’ll be gone 10 days and in a wide variety of terrain. All the articles I’ve read on cruising in Alaska say the same thing – layers! It could be a problem because that can be a lot of clothes and can get bulky, but we have a few items in our wardrobes that are better than others. Matt and I both have great down jackets that we love to travel with because they’re very warm, but they’re also tiny! The kids, however, didn’t have these jackets and I didn’t really want to shell out $100/ea from Patagonia for them, especially when mine was $50 from Uniqlo, a Japanese sort of H&M that I’ve only ever seen in NYC. Though cheaper, it’s still very warm and has held up perfectly. I love the jacket and in fact, when I misplaced the original, I begged Ani to go get one for me since at the time they didn’t have an online shop. But now … they do! And I was able to get darling down jackets for my kiddos for the trip for only $25/ea. And they’re cute! And they’ll be here soon.

Now that I have two major hurdles out of the way, I’m turning my attention towards the rest of what goes in the suitcases and on our backs. More on that later.