One of my first trips for JCI was a 12 day visit to Turkey, Luxembourg and Monaco. I thought I was so smart - I was saving time and money as I started my trek across Europe. I had to pack suits, formals, casual clothes, and gifts - you know there are clearly no stores in Europe if I forgot something, so I left Ann Arbor with a big suitcase, a small suitcase and a computer bag looking like a bag lady as I approached the ticket window.
My flight to Istanbul took about 10 hours and I was utterly exhausted when I landed. I was hoping to get a nap and a shower toute suite but instead I was whisked by car to a ferry where we took a 2 hour boat ride across the Sea of Marmara. From there it was a 1 1/2 hour car ride to Balakesir where I finally got to lay down and pass out. My stay in Turkey was amazing and the people were so hospitable. So hospitable that I started to receive so many gifts - 3 bottles of perfume, a piece of artwork, a ceramic plate and 2 Turkish rugs. Really - 4 X 6 area rugs are beautiful and one adorns my office currently, but they are not really easy to pack.
Here is where the fun began! I received so many gifts, my 2 escorts and I looked like pack mules as we traipsed back to Istanbul dragging rugs onto and off of the ferry. We looked like we were moving instead of on vacation.
We immediately went to the bazaar in Istanbul and bought another suitcase. Now, I had 2 big suitcases, 1 small suitcase and a computer bag as I left for Luxembourg. After bartering with the ticket agent, putting on some more clothes and moving as much to my carry on (it was bursting at the seams), I reluctantly ended up paying nearly $200 to get my luggage out of Turkey, I arrived in Luxembourg via a delayed connection in Frankfurt, Germany with not much additional drama.
The next part of the journey was where things got dicey. We were taking the overnight train from Luxembourg to Nice. Now please picture me and my escort (who had his own suitcases also) trying to schelp 4 suitcases and 2 computer bags up and down stairs in train station and up into the train. We looked like refugees from Beverly Hills, we clearly had to much crap to be homeless. As we huffed and puffed to our 6 person sleeping cabin, I quickly realized that our luggage took up all the storage space that was supposed to hold 6 people's stuff. Luckily we arrived first, but I can tell you we got the evil eye from the 4 remaining cabin mates who were forced to store their suitcases on their bunks. After the stare down, we decided that one of us would remain with the luggage at all time for fear some of it would get tossed out the window if we blinked.
When we arrived in Nice we were greeted by a very nice man with a very small car, so small that we ended up riding on top of a couple of suitcases in the back seat. Next form of transportation - helicopter. Here is where I was mortified beyond belief. I heard the helicopter agent telling my escort (in French - she did not know that I was onto her) that they would have to buy another seat for me because my LUGGAGE weighed to much! I continued my game of ignorance and happily boarded the helicopter waiting for the porter to load all my bags and the money to be exchanged while I dreamt of the near future (like 1 hour) when I could park these bags for 5 whole days and not carry them!
After paying another $80 dollars, I was off from Nice and on my way back to the US where I was promptly squired away for secondary inspection before leaving customs. I don't think anyone believed that one person could have so much luggage. I am sure that they thought I was a smuggler or at least had a dead person in my massively heavy bags.
When I finally got home and Tom nearly had a hernia getting all my bags into the house, I vowed to downsize on remaining trips. Knowing that I would never be able to do that (you never know what the occasion requires), I decided that 2 countries per trip was my new rule! I also learned that FedEx can be your friend :)!
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