Bags For My Bags

I have a serious problem. I've had it for years, and I'm not sure how to get help for it. I know there are others out there who suffer like I do. I've seen you. You've probably even seen me. We can't miss each other because our problem follows us wherever we go. What's the problem you ask? I don't know if I've ever said it out loud before, but here we go. I'm an over packer.

That's right folks, there's no denying this disease. It snuck up on me so innocently, then just kept snowballing. I didn't realize there was even a problem until about age 26 when I took a trip to Las Vegas with my girlfriend. It was a five day trip. At about 5am I stood in front of my home loading my suitcases into my car. I had my trusty large suitcase that comes standard with most luggage sets. It weighed about 60 lbs. Back then my long curly hair couldn't be dried by just any hotel hairdryer. So of course I packed my own. Along with a diffuser, gel, moose, pomade, and hairspray. And then there was of course my carry-on. Again, another piece of luggage loaded to the brim with do-dads and what-nots.

Then here comes my friend. Out comes her carry-on, which by the way was a quarter of the size of mine. She threw it into my trunk. The weight of her luggage convinced me she had probably just packed flip flops and a bikini. (Not a big deal since we were headed to sunny Las Vegas). She then hopped into the car.

"Wait a minute," I said. "Where's the rest of your luggage? We don't have time to run back to your home and make it to the airport!"

My friend was practically in tears laughing so hard. It was then that she informed me that all the luggage she brought was already in my trunk.

"Shocking," I thought. How does one fit all that stuff into such a tiny space? Immediately my mind began to fade into the Spoon Full of Sugar scene in Mary Poppins. Surely my friend had also packed a lamp and talking umbrella to entertain us on our trip.

Well, as it turns out, despite lugging all my personal belongings cross country, I was still the one who borrowed clothes from my friend that week.

It's been almost ten years since that trip. I would love to be able to say how far I've come since then or at least report that I'm on the road to recovery. The hard truth is that the car is almost filled and there are still more bags inside the house. In fact there are bags inside bags.

It's 8 hours and counting to the big Disney World Trip. I still need to fit 4 more bags and a cooler in the minivan by tomorrow morning. If that's a success, I'll just have one more problem....Where do I put the kids?