Airport Thoughts

Packing - You'd think after all these years I'd finally have it all figured out.

I've been frustrated in the past with the amount of potential storage I lose because my suitcases weigh so much empty. So, this year I opted for all lightweight bags, to save as much space as possible for the contents. I don't pack much for myself, and all my clothes have to pass my stringent weight and drying requirements, but I do take a lot of materials and supplies.

I have no AAC low- or mid-tech devices with me this year. It's all no tech - but not necessarily lightweight. There are pictures, mini picture albums, books, Velcro, rolls of clear tape and stiff backing for making communication supports; For the OT in Mumias - splinting material (many thanks to Bill Schuele, our Patterson Medical rep), foam tubing, and other odds and ends an OT might find useful, as well as pants and shirts for some of the children who come to the EARC (Educational Assessment Resource Center)barely clothed; and for the jump rope program in Kibera - shoes, socks, shorts and ropes.

So I packed and repacked multiple times, debating, discarding, replacing, each time closer to that magical 23 kg (about 50 lb) limit.

Really lightweight, though, pretty much eliminates rolling wheels and telescoping handles, and certainly my nearly 9 pound carry-on case. I replaced the carry-on with my 20-ounce ultralight backpacking pack. No problem, I thought - I can carry the pack, plus a straw bag and accordion envelope for my papers and iPad.I could always pay someone to carry the larger bags. Anyway, luggage carts are everywhere, right?

Not everywhere. Not, for example, in the 3rd lane of the outer drive at JFK airport, which is where the LaGuardia/JFK Shuttle driver deposited me and my luggage. Miraculously, there was an escaped terminal cart waiting for me on the sidewalk separating the inner lanes of traffic from the outer lanes, and traffic kindly waited while I slowly maneuvered the 2 large suitcases, backpack, "purse" and accordion envelope.

If things go as planned, I'll be leaving one of those suitcases behind. I need a bigger one.