The title of this posting might indicate that packing for our trip was a single event.  We need to straighten that out immediately.  You see, we have been planning the packing since before Christmas, 2005.  And as of this posting it is still on-going.  In fact, we are so close to our limits that we expect to be leaving stuff behind at the airport. 

Packing for Albania 

The opportunity before us is that for our two year adventure we have a very generous weight limit of 100 lbs. per person — four checked bags at 50 lbs. each – plus 2 carry-on bags for each of us, 2 of which are our laptop computers.  We say the limit is generous because if we were not going to a cold climate (which is bad news in and of itself), we would be limited to 80 lbs. each.  At least, we though it was generous until we tried to get all our gear in under that limit.

But the story is getting ahead of itself.  The first pack was held in early January to just get a feel of how much is 50 pounds.  We still don’t know, but here are some interesting things we do know:  Carol’s 12 pairs of shoes weighs 23 lbs, Criss’s 5 shirts, 4 pants, 6 synthentic tee shirts and 2 pair of shoes weighs 25 lbs, all the computer gear, battery charger, power converts, books weighs in at 70 lbs and makes for a very heavy duffle.  So Criss figured he had it made: 25 lbs of clothes, 70 lbs of support gear, that is a 5 lbs margin.  Carol wasn’t quit as convinced as she felt that if Criss could not give up a little more than 5 lbs for her, she would have to leave more than shoes behind.  But it was too early to start eliminating items, that would come with the next pack.

On the night before we left Raleigh, we still had not had time to do our second pack, just too busy with packing and moving furniture.  We had to get our clothes packed, but Criss just hit the Wall.   Carol was gathering and organizing like crazy, but the idea of getting everything under the weight limit and into the 6 bags were beyond Criss’ grasp.  So, the final solution was to pack everything to get it out of the house and sort it out later.

Arriving in Burkburnett with 17 bags was more than a bit of an annoyance.  We knew we had to reduce all this to six bags.  So the repack began, or at least Carol took the inititive to get the repack started.  Criss was still overwhelmed by it all.  Over the course of a day, we unpacked, repacked, weighed, redistributed, and then started over.  It is amazing what you finally decide you can do without.  We arrived in Aluquerque 2 bags over the limit, so more things will be left behind there as well.  Now you know why we think we’ll be leaving things at the airport!

Household Packing 

What do we do with all the stuff we have collected over the past 25 years?  Simple!  We impose on family and friends to store it for us; after all it is only two years.:)   Carol’s sister in Chapel Hill graciously offered to let us furnish her basement and use her attic.  That took care of the bedroom furniture, some living room stuff and a lot of book, office and kitchen boxes.  Shortly after arranging that, a friend from Criss’s church offered his attic and an extra bedroom.  That gave us a place to store our couch.  We were set, so we thought…

However, after borrowing a trailer and moving all the stuff as arranged, we realized Criss grossly underestimated the amount (number and weight) of boxes and furniture that needed to be moved.  And the amount of leftover items was much more than expected!  Carol’s other sister in Atlanta volunteered to take some items (including Carol’s coveted Redskin blanet and Hurricanes hockey stick) which helped relieve some of the anxiety, and gave us an excuse for a quick trip to see her and the boys.

The kitchen packing was completed by Carol and each day for a week we made one or two trips to Chapel Hill to store boxes.  Office furniture and miscellaneous things went to Sharon and Mike’s basement and a lone chair was shuttled south to Jennifer.  That left us with 2 patio chairs in the living room, a small 12 inch TV, the bed a folding card table and chairs.  Aside from the bed, all was given to the Disabled American Vets on our last day in the house.  With that done, we hauled the last of our belongings out of the house and with two full carloads, we headed off. 

And that is the brief story of our stuff.  We just hope that after all that effort, we still want it back when we return. (I’m sure that Carol’s sister does too!)