The Luggage Saga, Part 1

The Davidson 7 has, at long last, arrived in Cambodia!!!! Thanks be to God! The amazingness of just being here continues to sink in a little more each day. During our first week new experiences have occurred at such a fast rate that it is difficult to share them in real time! Therefore, I decided that my first blog from Cambodia would simply start at the very beginning and chronicle for you the saga of our luggage. As you read on you’ll understand why it was truly an epic undertaking to pack everything needed for a family of 7 and transport those goods overseas. I’d also like to write about this aspect of our journey because we have frequently been asked “how” it is possible to move a family overseas. Well, one of the biggest challenges is figuring out what to bring and how to get it there.

Here’s the story of how our crew tackled the challenge. 

First, we looked into international shipping. This option provides the ability to transport almost anything, including vehicles and furniture. However, this is an extremely expensive option. We were given an estimate of $15,000 to ship clothing, our full stash of kitchen supplies, all our books, two dressers, one recliner, bicycles, and one king-size bed. Therefore, we scrapped this option early on and decided to utilize our maximum allotment of checked baggage in order to bring a few of our favorite things. 😊 🎶 Our airline allowed a maximum of 5 bags per passenger. We had a total of 11 travelers: our 7, our teacher and her daughter, our gap-year-intern, and my fearless mom who is joining us for a month! With 11 travelers, we were allotted 55 bags and we used every single one of them. Now, I know most of you are thinking that you could easily fit everything you would ever want into 55 bags. Well, let me tell you, it is NOT as effortless as you think! 😂 It required a lot, a ton, a gargantuan level, of slimming down to get to that point. I’ve outlined the process below.

Our packing process started 7 months ago when we decided upon our moving date from I’Falls. Then began a process of “winnowing” that gradually determined what would make the journey to Cambodia.

• First, as mentioned above, we had already decided not to ship our belongings. Therefore, anything larger than a suitcase was immediately disqualified. This was certainly the most severe aspect of the winnowing. It required a giant step of detachment from worldly goods and was quite painful at first. We had to say goodbye to our comfy bed, cute pieces of furniture, large toys, and very heavy items, like my beloved KitchenAid mixer, due to weight limits on checked baggage. However, I can honestly say that the Lord graciously helped us adjust to this new reality as time passed. As I write this today, the sting of the loss is no longer present. In fact, I eventually became thankful that moving overseas has made detachment much easier to practice. (Nic, on the other hand, was thankful for this step from the beginning–he loved the thought of not having “so much stuff”, which most of us in the US can commiserate with from time to time.)

• The next step of winnowing was to rid our house of all those random, unnecessary items that inevitably accumulate over time. This is also where we got rid of things that we never, ever use, but keep around because we just might, in the right circumstance, need it one day. You know what kind of items I’m talking about! 😂 This, by the way, was the easiest step. It felt productive and freeing, like when you finally clean out the garage or a closet that has been gathering items for several years.

• Next, I sorted items according to whether they would be stored here in the US or brought to Cambodia. When I later began to pack the items designated for Cambodia, I did a second weaning process by reevaluating everything I initially wanted to bring. Though it caused me to let out quite a few sighs, I was able to rid us of several more boxes full of things that were desirable, but not truly necessary. This included items such as old books that are primarily decorative, all of my photos of the kids (we’re talking over 30 frames of various sizes), or kitchen items that are easily replaceable.

Here’s a glimpse of our garage during this process. Our house was pretty much a mess for several months!

• Yet another winnowing occurred when we attempted to load a trailer with our Cambodia-bound stash. It was the largest trailer available through UHaul, but it simply could not contain the Davidson 7. 😭 😂 Granted, the trailer was also utilized for several items needed while spending the summer with my parents in Georgia. Still, it was 90% full of items headed to Cambodia. As Nic was packing the trailer on our very last day in International Falls, we simply ran out of space. To say the least, this was a disappointing development. 😱 At the last minute we had to leave behind multiple larger items. The most upsetting was our bicycles. We had been reading about how to put a bicycle through checked luggage and were hoping to bring ours along. We knew bikes would be useful transportation in Cambodia and we love riding together as a family. This was apparently not meant to be. Happily, however, we can certainly buy bicycles here in Cambodia. Even better, we are considering getting our very own tuk-tuk!

• Finally, there was one last winnowing process. About a month before heading to Cambodia we began to organize everything into the final suitcases and bins that would make the overseas trip. As the cases began to fill, we realized that even more articles had to go. My cheerful-looking yellow dishes and the most adorable vintage tea set didn’t make the cut. We also had to wean out a few more toys and slim down my selection of Christmas decor. (I know some of you are familiar with my love of Christmas!) While this loss was frustrating because it was unexpected, it was actually not upsetting. I credit this entirely to the Lord’s graces. Additionally, I know I’ll be reunited with my tea set and full collection of Christmas decor at some point. 😊 🤶 🎄

This video shows my parent’s garage during our last few days of packing–it was a lot to wrap the mind around. After we had (finally) honed in on what we would bring, we had to figure out how to pack it. To avoid overweight charges, each suitcase had to be under 50 pounds. With the need to evenly distribute the heaviest and lightest articles, there could be no logical arrangement to our packing. Bags were organized only by how much their contents weighed. Consequently, each suitcase contained a vast array of completely unrelated objects. (Upon arrival we have already experienced the joy of searching through bag after bag to locate items. 🙄 😂)

And alas, after all of these painstaking steps, we were finally set to travel with 39 suitcases and 16 heavy-duty bins containing clothing, shoes, linens, a few toiletries and medicines, homeschool materials, toys, a gargantuan amount of legos, the most minimal collection of books we could manage, games, small kitchen utensils, several tools, a few favorite baking dishes, home decor, and a still-hearty supply of Christmas decorations.

How did we get all of this (plus carry-ons) to the airport, you say? Well, stay tuned for Part 2!