Wow, we’ve been planning this for a year and now it’s becoming real. We are in the final bits of trip prep. Our bags are (mostly) packed and our plan is basically set.
We are travelling reasonably light. Some consider this crazy or impossible but it is a necessity for a family of 4 who plan to spend a month in a small French automobile. Those things don’t have much luggage space so we have to limit what we take. Additionally, we need to be mobile for walks to train stations or to reach an apartment or Hotel room up three flights of steep stairs. We have to be able to do this in one trip so we have some simple rules:
- Each person must be able to carry all of their gear. This means that the kids need to be able to drag or carry their travel bag and a small day pack and pack it where we need to go.
- We must have room in the car to pack other essentials we buy in France: food and wine being the most important things – naturally.
- Dad is not the pack horse! Well really I am, but there are limits!
This means we each get a single carry on bag and a small day pack. The kids bags are wheeled to help them drag their stuff along behind them. Each bag we have can be worn as a backpack. We have one extra suitcase for ‘family extras’ that will be checked.
Travelling light is hard but I’m sure it will be worth the effort.