The Luggage Saga, Part 2

Let us pick up where we left off many (many) months ago in Part 1 of this journey. In this series, we are highlighting some practical aspects of moving overseas. (Similar to our YouTube video that outlines the process of getting our passports.) Part one focused on how we sorted through things and what we decided to bring, while this leg of the journey details how we got it all to Cambodia.

When we had finally accomplished condensing of most useful belongings into 39 suitcases and 16 plastic bins, we needed to get this delightful assortment of luggage from my parents house in Georgia to Siem Reap, Cambodia. It took multiple steps and was certainly a bulky process, but it worked! 

For starters, how did we get so many suitcases?! Fortunately, Nic and I had a hefty supply of luggage on hand—which certainly makes sense, as we’ve been traveling and moving throughout our entire marriage. We have gotten a LOT of use out of that luggage. So much use, in fact, that I began to feel embarrassed to be seen with some of the more ragged-looking pieces! Still, our accumulated assortment of baggage was not enough. We scoured thrift stores for several months, but could not find a single suitcase. It would have been foolish to buy 20 new suitcases—we simply needed old bags that would hold together just long enough to make this one journey. This is one of the rare times when Facebook was useful , because Nic sent out a request for old suitcases and we were blessed to have over 20 pieces of luggage donated! We were so grateful! As we accumulated these totally random bags, I realized “Wait a minute, how are we going to recognize all of these on the conveyor belt upon our arrival in Cambodia?!” We solved this problem with matching, neon green luggage tags! I was quite proud of this idea, by the way…but, hilariously (and annoyingly), in the end the luggage tags were completely unnecessary  I’ll explain further on.

Next, how did we decide on how many bags we could take?! This was simply according to airline regulation, and our airline allowed a maximum of 5 bags per person. With 11 people traveling, we were allotted a grand total of 55 bags. We accumulated 39 suitcases, so the remaining 16 pieces were made up with hard plastic bins. Now, I totally understand that it sounds like 55 pieces of luggage is a huge amount of stuff, but it was harder than you may think to slim down everything we owned into 55 containers. Trust me! The Journey of the Luggage: Part 1 will tell you all about it. 

Before we move on, a quick note about the hard plastic bins. We were given this idea by the Seeber family of Virginia, MN, who moved a family of 10 to New Zealand! They transported most of their belongings in bins, securing the lids with zip ties. We used these to transport breakables, and they were impressively effective! We brought along several of my favorite kitchen pieces. I was not at all comfortable putting anything breakable in a suitcase, because we all know how those things get tossed around at airports. Transported in the bins, however, most items were totally safe. Only 3-4 broke! Oddly enough, they didn’t break from rough-handling, but due to some principle of physics that I was unaware of. For example, 3 bowls were nested together, each one secured in bubble wrap; the bowl in the middle broke, while the top and bottom bowl were completely unharmed. Similarly, Christian’s Batman mug was nestled in the middle of other coffee mugs, all individually bubble-wrapped, and only that mug—the one in the middle—was smashed to smithereens! It was broken so thoroughly that it was almost impressive. All said, however, we were pleasantly surprised at how well everything survived the 9150 mile journey. 

A trick of the trade to pass on: If you have small, beloved items that you really want to travel with, take them as a carry-on! They won’t get thrown around by luggage handlers and they have a much smaller risk of getting lost. This is how we brought a small statue of the Holy Family, a figurine from our wedding, and a statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus with us! They arrived in Cambodia safe and sound, and they warm my heart each time I see them (which is why I decided to bring them along.) They help our new house feel like a home!

Let us now move on to the transit of these 55 pieces of cargo across the globe. The number of steps required was hilariously long, so we’re going to cover here just what was required to get us on the airplane! 

Not surprisingly, it required a small UHaul trailer. The use of the trailer was easy enough, and the process almost went off without a hitch. However, after unloading the trailer at the curbside, my father in law drove our Suburban with the attached trailer to the airport parking lot. Whilst this lengthy vehicle entered the parking lot, the automatic gate arm closed too quickly, slammed into the rented trailer, and the gate arm BROKE OFF. There were no parking attendants to be seen, no buzzers or sirens started, and there was little he could do … so my father in law just kept driving and parked the car.   When he later returned to the Suburban, there were no tickets or security guards waiting for him, and he drove right out of the parking ramp with no one stopping him. If anyone ever did watch a video of the incident, they must have agreed that it was simply accidental. Thankfully, this little misadventure did not result in a steep fine! 

It took 45 minutes to get the luggage from the trailer to the sidewalk, from the sidewalk onto carts, and finally to the check in area. We utilized every luggage cart we could find, but still had to make multiple trips. Some toted the luggage from one location to another, while others were stationed beside the two luggage piles to keep watch. My job was keeping the children within a reasonable radius. 

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The length of time this took was a surprise to us all. I knew it would be a process, but did not expect it would take a FULL THREE HOURS!

• The first process that took extra time was that we had to COMPLETELY rearrange our meticulously-packed carry-on bags! Oh, the best laid plans  … We had thought that each passenger was allowed 2 carry-ons, but were informed upon arrival that this was not the case.  We had to consolidate our meticulously packed carry-ons and cram our also-meticulously-packed suitcases a little fuller. It was so painful to disturb the packing I had spent SO many hours on! It was particularly fun to spread out our massive amount of luggage right in the terminal to do this rearranging. However, I must express thanks that God helped me not get “bent out of shape” by this. While embarking upon this huge step in His calling for our lives, God kindly provided me with the grace I needed in that moment!
• When the carry-ons were finally rearranged, the gate attendant actually began the check-in process. Let me tell you, it takes a LONG time to print 55 luggage tags (like, an hour). Again, however, we were blessed by an incredibly patient ticketing agent who allowed us to skip a very long line. Plus, she handled our check-in at the first-class counter, which was much less crowded. She was most definitely an answer to prayer! 
• After we spent an hour rearranging our baggage and an hour getting all the bags checked in, we were told to wait for a receipt. Apparently we absolutely had to have a paper receipt for our baggage transaction, and apparently there was only one employee in charge of paper receipts that day. We had to wait for this exceedingly important employee for 45 minutes. 
• By this time the adults were getting antsy from this process that had now lasted 3 and a half hours. The children, understandably, were bored and hungry, and asked when we would be done about 1,000 times. (Thankfully the grandparents were there to help!) How on earth did we not miss our flight, you might ask? Well, we arrived 4 and a half hours early, and it turns out that it wasn’t a minute too soon! Our flight began to board shortly after we finally made it through security.

Well, that’s it for the second installment of our “Luggage Saga”. Keep your eyes open for part 3 and we ask kindly for your continued prayers and support of our work in Cambodia!!!

St. Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!