Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Luggage Madness!!

I am going to have a little rant here. WHY do people over pack? It is maddening!! Suitcases are getting bigger and bigger. They're the size of coffins as it is! When will it all end?

This is how suitcases used to look.


Nobody used to complain about those. The worst thing that happened was that it would get confused with the others that looked just like it. You got everything you really needed in there and didn't really miss anything did you?

The baggage claim area is a great leveler. I've seen overpackers in baggage claim areas upset because their suitcase zips have split, the wheels have broken and the handles have come away in their hands. Some of these oversized suitcases aren't designed well enough to carry the weight that the size suggests they carry. If these behemoths are packed to capacity they will fall apart.


This is a photo of an offensively huge suitcase. It has its own zip code. In my own private world, you could only use this if; 1) you are going away for the entire summer 2) leaving your spouse 3) you're emigrating 4) your diving equipment is in there. You can't use a suitcase of this size if you are going away for a week. Don't even think about using this case if you're going away for the weekend!


quote from my mom -

"Oh, I HATE those things! It was a sad day when they put wheels on suitcases. When the day comes that I can't carry what I need in one small, light bag, I'm gonna either quit travelling or hire a bearer...."

You think these people were going away for months on The Grand Tour of Europe. However, they're only going for a week or less. Geeze, get a grip! You can't really need all that junk!

This is an example of a normal modern suitcases. I'm not putting in an ad for suitcases, this photo just had the best examples.

The larger suitcase in the above photo is what The Man of The Place and I share for our annual vacation. We do go to hot places where lots of warm clothing isn't needed. We like to save our luggage allowance for the diving gear. The smaller one is a perfect weekend size and is fine for carry on. Now please don't think the larger blue case is okay for carry on. Its just too big.


I'm just hoping beyond hope that at least one overpacker will see this and re-think what they need to bring along next time.

4 comments:

Miss Scarlet said...

Haha, as an overpacker I'm not sure I can promise to not do so in the future. I just hate getting somewhere and not having something I need.

Peggy said...

Lets make a distinction between what you NEED and what you WANT. I remember one weekend at my grandmother's house when my suitcase was actually forgotten. It was left at home in the hallway. I had nothing but what I had on. I survived just fine. It sucked wearing my grandmother's pajamas, but I had full sympathy all weekend and in the end, I just didn't care.

Anonymous said...

Having spent a year living out of a rucksack I reckon I'm a fully qualified under-packer! Hints and tips available on request :-)

Just don't get me started on what people think will pass as carry-on baggage...

Anonymous said...

See if you can get Renée to read this one. We just got back from visiting my mom in Sedona for 9 days, and took TWO of the big ones -- stuffed about to the point of bursting, of course -- two medium-sized ones (still a little bigger than your weekend-sized case), a Scooby-Doo backpack -- with wheels and a slide-out handle -- and a honking shoulder bag full of crap. Oh, and the carrier bag for Max's car seat, which of course also had a bunch of other stuff, uh, stuffed in it.