Whew, this week has felt chaotic.
I had a dentist appt Monday, meetings all morning Wednesday + a haircut in the afternoon, another quick appointment Thursday… My work days have felt all over the place.
The evenings have not been any calmer. I am feeling DONE with driving people places right now and am frankly very ready for an activity hiatus. With our trip coming up, I have a long list of to-do items that I keep trying to squeeze in in the evenings, but I constantly have to drop everything and drive people places!
We also had crazy weather/ tornado warnings on Tuesday night which contributed to the wacky feeling of the week.
On the plus side, despite feeling rather exhausted, I am chipping away at “the to-do list”, slowly but surely.
On the stormy Tuesday night we DID get Asher’s clothes/ closet completely cleaned out (yay!), in between a couple trips to hide in the basement during the tornado warnings. Once it seemed mostly clear, I was like, Ok, storm be damned, get back up there and keep trying on t-shirts. 😂
Both Wednesday and Thursday nights I ended up running a bunch of errands. (On weeknight evenings, yawn…yuck.)
Wednesday I dropped Asher at soccer at 5:45 and then met up with Ivan (on his way home from work) at DSW, followed by a few other stores. We were looking for some new shoes/sandals for the boys and possibly myself for our trip. (Found some great flip flops for Ethan that he can wear to dinner, etc and bonus- look way nicer than Crocs. 😅)
Thursday I dropped Ethan at soccer and then hit up one other nearby shoe store, found some new sandals for myself (I thought), took them home and proceeded to get myself all confused about what shoes I actually want to bring, anyway…. (Doing carry-on only and debating my hiking/water shoes vs. hiking sandals vs. beach flip flops vs a nicer dinner sandal… I keep circling back to like, too many shoes! I didn’t feel like I had quite the right “multi-purpose” sandal, but after all this, I might end up taking back the ones I just bought and just take some I already own after all…. I dunno! TBD.)
Also ended up doing a late night grocery run at 8:30 p.m. with Asher after his swim practice last night because our grocery situation was DIRE, which resulted in us all putting groceries away at like 9:45 p.m. 🤪
On another plus side, Ivan took Ethan for a haircut this week and I took Asher for one (plus I got mine done Wednesday), so no need for last minute pre-vacation cuts next week!! (Not sure about Ivan’s hair status but it’s not in my job description to worry about a grown man’s haircut- I’m sure he’ll get it cut if he needs it.)
Trying to just sort of generally hold on here and get through this next week! I had to laugh… we got Chinese take-out the other night for dinner (see above re: dire grocery situation) and Ethan handed me the fortune from his cookie and said, “Here- you need this one”:
LOL!!!! LOVE IT. I might frame this little fortune and put it in my office. hahaha. New life mantra? 🤔
On another note, yesterday was Ethan’s last day of school!!! Freshman year is over. He is officially 1/4 of the way done with high school.
Here’s 1st day in August vs Last Day in May:
Asher’s finishing up his last (real) day of classes today!! Summer is upon us!!
People who have been to Hawaii- tell me what shoes you took! 😂 Are you Team Carry-on Only or Team Checked Bag? (We are renting an SUV on each island (GMC Acadia) for our group of 6, so we decided CARRY ON only because a) it’s freaking expensive to check bags these days (and we’ll have multiple flights) and b) we simply won’t have trunk space for tons of big luggage. My chronic overpacker mom is less than thrilled with this… lol. She seems to think this is quite the big ask from me. Haha. Have you packed for a 2 week trip before in carry on luggage only? If so, tell me (or, my mom…) your best tips and why this is not “impossible”. 😉
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for an upcoming long weekend!!!
P.S. Everyone send good vibes to SHU running the Bayshore Marathon tomorrow, going for a Boston Qualifying time!! 🎉🎉🎉 I have been very closely following along/chatting with her non-stop about her training for what feels like months and months now, so I am highly Invested in this race. Hahaha! 😂 So excited to cheer her on from afar. Goooooooooooooo Sarah!!!!!!
GRATEFUL KAE 
Sigh, someday I’ll try Team Carryon but for family vacays for some reason we always seem to end up with everyone checking a bag…the price is annoying for a single flight but if we ever went somewhere with multiple flights I think we’d figure out how to change our ways.
LikeLike
The prices to check bags nowadays are really quite irritating! That is one motivation. And the times when we have done carryon only, it really is SO nice to just get off the plane and…. walk out! No waiting around the luggage carousel etc. Not to mention the generally lighter load does feel good! I would like to be a more minimalist packer but by nature am NOT. I can make carryon only work but my bag is usually sort of bursting at the seams which is not really the idea. LOL.
LikeLike
We carried on for our 10 day trip to Hawaii. For shoes I brought running shoes, flip flops for the beach and more fashionable sandals for dinners out (they were gold flip flops). I have never owned water shoes as an adult and I prefer more stability from hiking shoes so haven’t tried hiking sandles because I have terribly high arches so sandals don’t always feel great on me? We had access to laundry at our VRBO so we did laundry once I think? I am a LIGHT packer though. And dresses and summer clothes are so light so I felt like it was pretty easy to carry on for that trip. It’s tricker when you need more layers/warm clothes! But I am definitely more on the low maintenance side. I still felt like I dressed cutely for our nights out, though, so it all worked out!
Having kids try on clothes before a vacation is one of my least favorite parts of prepping for a trip. For us, there is so much whining and cajoling required. It drives me nuts!!
LikeLike
Definitely a warm weather trip is WAY easier to even attempt carryon only vs a cold weather one. That would be super tricky for me! I think I could do it more easily if it were like just me and Ivan going on more of a “backpacking adventure” around Europe or something, where I would just have a different mindset about trying to “look cute for family photos” and things like that. Haha. I am actually a huge fan of sandals and generally prefer them always if possible, so that is one perk- they’re usually smaller than other shoes. On this trip I think I am going to take my hiking sneaker (which is a cross between sneaker/ water shoes, so super versatile) and ALSO my Teva hiking sandals, just because I know I will want to wear sandals whenever possible! I think I’ll have the space so should be ok.
LikeLike
So many weekday errands. It sounds stressful but you also got a lot accomplished. Go you!
I want to be someone who travels just with carry-on but I don’t think I can do it for longer than a long weekend trip. Good luck.
LikeLike
Really San?! I think I would have thought you would have been Team Carryon!! hahaha!
LikeLike
I went to Hawaii in 2013 when Sofia was 13 months old so we had a lot of luggages! Now I think it’s possible to travel in carry on if the weather is similar day/night and you have access to washer. If you don’t have to move around too much, then checked bag is also okay as you’ll have to settle once and then you have more options. We usually bring number days divided by half plus one outfits per person if we have access to washing machine, because we travel to tropical places so need to change outfit everyday. if we don’t, then we bring one outfit per day.
LikeLike
Yes, totally agree that if I’m just going to one place, and ideally just one single flight, then I’d much rather just check a bag and not have all the space limitations. In this case we aren’t moving around THAT much- just two different lodging places- but we will have the inter-island flights. On this trip the big thing is just that we are only going to have one vehicle for all 6 of us to get from the airport to our lodging. If we had been able to rent a minivan it would have been easier, but we ended up with an SUV- and they really don’t have super large trunks!! So 6, or even 4, full sized suitcases would probably not fit! In Costa Rica we did the same thing and it was honestly a tight squeeze to get all our stuff in the SUV even with just carryons….
LikeLike
Ethan definitely looks taller in the right side picture! I did not realize that Crocs were popular with the teens these days, but now that you mention that, I note that my friend’s 13 year old also wears hers everywhere!
Re packing/Hawaii, I am a carry on person, unless I have dangerous goods, like tent spikes, and then I am very annoyed to have to check a bag which would have fit in the overhead bin. However, I traveled for over a year with a carry on! The trick is to have mix and match items, which is why I wear a lot of black, as it can be durable but also fancy when needed. Shoes are always the issue, as I need sneakers to hike/run, but those don’t really look great for dinners. My suggestion is a pair of black flats that is small or folds up, and then a pair of flip flops that are also minimal. That’s three pairs of shoes but it doesn’t have to take up a lot of space. My other suggestion is Merino wool items, which are expensive, BUT they satisfy the mix and match philosophy and they don’t stink!!!
LikeLike
I think I logically know that it is definitely “possible” to pack carryon only quite easily, especially since we will have access to laundry. The thing for me (and my mom, I believe) is that we just don’t really WANT to pack like that. Hahaha. Like, I don’t really enjoy wearing the same things over and over on a trip. Nothing wrong with it at all! And it totally makes sense. But I’d kind of rather not? So that complicates things. Also, I tend to be a “just in case” packer. Like, I’m not really sure how breezy it will be- what if I get chilly at night? Is my jean jacket enough? What if that’s TOO warm? Maybe I should also bring a lighter sweater or zip up too just in case… etc etc. You get the idea. HAHA. I am sure you are an expert packer! I should lay all my stuff out and then send you pics and have you take the axe and cut out half. LOL.
LikeLike
i could do that!! They do that with backpacking, it’s called a shake out, where someone more expert (not saying that’s me!) tells you what you don’t really need to bring. Of course when you have to carry it on your back, it’s pretty motivating to pack light!!
LikeLike
As you know we are Team Carryon only (my husband is adamant about this)!
Don’t panic. Hahaha. The universe is telling you something.
But you have had sooo much going on. I chuckled at the haircut because I think I recall Ivan took one (both?) of the boys for haircuts in Italy? Or one of your trips. I just remember there was a haircut that happened in a foreign country.
LikeLike
Yes, I knew you were Team Carryon! And you seem so good at it. Your whole family looked adorable in all your Barcelona pics, so clearly you weren’t limiting fashionable choices by going carryon only!! Impressive!
And good memory! Yes, it was in Italy that Ivan took them for Italian haircuts. Haha!
LikeLike
Ethan really grew! He looks older and taller! My daughter is also 1/4 done with high school (well- after finals this week.). It went fast, didn’t it???
Hmm, a two week trip? I think I could do a carryon if it were Hawaii. I would wear running shoes on the plane and probably use those for hiking. Then flipflops and a nicer pair of sandals? The last time I went to Hawaii was about 25 years ago and I definitely checked a bag. But everything was easier then- air travel was more comfortable and I didn’t have kids. I have faith in you! I’m sure this will all work out and I can’t wait to hear all about it. You’ll have to do a recap segment all about the packing, what you brought, and how you managed to fit it all.
LikeLike
Definitely the warm weather part is the key! Tank tops, small shorts etc just don’t take up much space, fortunately. I am sure I will still struggle to narrow down my choices… planning to tackle that later today or tomorrow. I’ll keep you posted!!! hahaha.
LikeLike
I used to be an overpacker but now I just do carryon – yes, even for two weeks! I mean, you can always do laundry, and for Hawaii it’s so easy, because light clothes don’t take up much space. You can buy sunscreen there – yes, expensive, but less so than checked luggage PLUS you have to wait forever and what if they lose it, etc. Team Carryon all the way!
LikeLike
I used to think carryon only seemed impossible, but then Ivan and I did carryon only on a backpacking trip around Spain and Italy in 2017, and I found …. hey, this is pretty neat! Definitely so nice to just get off the plane and go. I’ve done just a couple other carryon only trips since then and they’ve all been warm weather trips. Cold weather would be hard for me! But I’m sure its doable. We’ve had some LONG waits at the luggage carousel on other trips lately which has been nudging me more and more into Team Carryon territory. lol.
I am planning to just buy sunscreen there. I’ve read that it’s super important to have reef safe sunscreens etc and I don’t want to risk accidentally bringing the wrong stuff from home. I know if I buy it there it will be the correct kind!
LikeLike
You can definitely carry on! My husband is obsessed with packing light and we did very small carry on backpacks for 3 weeks in Europe. Packing cubes are key! I like the small rectangular ones. Also fabrics that are easy to wash out and dry quickly. I second the comments for foldable flats to wear out and flip flops. Wear your chunkier hiking shoes. You can do it! And it is nice to not lug heavy bags when you are moving places.
LikeLike
YES to the packing cubes. I also have found that for some odd reason, I can fit WAY more stuff into my Osprey backpack versus a regular carryon luggage piece (even though they seem to basically be the exact same size?!) Not sure what the difference is, but when I roll my shirts/shorts into packing cubes and stuff it all in the backpack, I seem to fit so much. That’s what I’m planning to take this time too.
LikeLike
I forgot to mention I do like to check one bag on the way back. We usually bring a super light collapsible duffle and that way you can put anything you want to purchase on your trip in there. I do want to be able to bring things home so that works best for me! So mostly teak carry on but do like that flexibility!
LikeLike
Team carry on here too! Especially if you are on an airline that allows you to have a roller bag AND a backpack, you can fit a LOT in those. The last time we went on a warm weather vacay as a family, we did check ONE bag between the 5 of us, simply so we could bring a ton of cheap sunscreen instead of having to buy it there. Whenever I check a bag I always end up bringing like 30x more clothing than I’ll ever wear and it’s just dumb.
We were carry on for our Japan trip (10 days) and it was totally fine. 5 shirts, 2 pants each, enough socks/undies for the whole trip. We didn’t have easy access to laundry but it was totally fine, and that was even a trip with really variable weather where we needed coats.
LikeLike