<p>Any suggestions for helping me get my DD to pack lighter for her study abroad program. She will need to schlep her own stuff once she gets there, and her program involves significant travel during the time she is there. The program sent a recommended packing list AND a strong advisory that most students overpack and then regret it. Her older sibs who have done similar programs have also given her their 2 cents about not taking too much. I've told her she's probably better off buying most clothes she needs once she gets there and gets a better sense of the climate (very hot and sticky) and "fashion". Still and all - why am I not surprised? - she's packing like she's going on a first class world cruise. I'm torn between just letting her do what she wants, getting her sibs to come over and go through what she's taking with her (they have more sway over her than I do, naturally), or keeping trying to reason with her. Any ideas, guys?</p>
<p>Remind her that she will want to shop. And she should leave room for her purchases.</p>
<p>Believe me, she's already thought of that and got it covered. She plans to bring an empty duffle bag along with everything else!</p>
<p>my Ds were the same, a couple of years ago we went to Rome and Paris, on the flight to rome, we could oonly take 1 carryon, and it was SMALL, I mean 14 lb max, and nothing checked, they charged alot of money to check anything</p>
<p>they learned </p>
<p>I say, suggest to her to pair down, let her read the stuff and let it go</p>
<p>She needs to learn this lesson herself and worse case, she has to drag her stuff everyone and people will get tired of helping her</p>
<p>Sometimes these are the best ways to learn that other people actually do know better and that one should listen</p>
<p>One way to help, is have her put all her clothes in piles- tshirts, jeans (you need two pairs max), sweaters, etc and at least make sure she isn't duplicating things, and that if she has something that only goes with one thing, it should be nixed</p>
<p>Other than that, eh, let her learn and be annoyed and annoying</p>
<p>when we did our trip each girl carried all their own stuff and were grateful it wasn't very much</p>
<p>another thing to tell her is that the more you take the more likely something will go missing</p>
<p>I do suggest having her sibs come and help, a way of saying good bye and good luck, while saying, sis, come on, don't be reedikulussss</p>
<p>Whenever I travel, I choose everything I WANT to take about a week before I leave. The day before I leave, I put everything on the bed (it's a high flat place with lots of space, a big table would work, too) and then figure out what I NEED to take. That's usually less than half of what I originally put out. (My husband and I went to Europe with a 22" roller and a backpack each, for three weeks.)</p>
<p>You might suggest she carry the suticases around the house and up the stairs a few times before she decides what she really NEEDS to take. Make her lift the suitcase above her head, as she will have to do every time she takes a train.</p>
<p>Have her pack everything she wants. Then weigh it, keeping in mind the requirements for luggage weight on the various airlines (it can vary on flights within nations.) If she is 'over', tell her that she will have to pay the excess baggage fees herself. Money is a terrific incentive.</p>
<p>If she doesn't budge, there's not much you can do. Employ her sisters, and definitely make it clear that she'll need to pay any fees for overweight and/or extra luggage. My sister left today for three weeks of independent field work in Kenya. From there she'll fly directly to Italy where we will all spend a few days before going to Croatia for a week or two. She has one suitecase and, I believe, a backpack. We all know that it's best to pack light, especially for a young woman doing a lot of traveling. If your daughter doesn't believe you, her sisters, or the people from the program, she may just have to learn through experience. My only other suggestion would be making sure that she is within weight limits, suggesting she try to take her luggage downstairs and load it into your car by herself (of course do this when she has time to take stuff out afterwards), and encouraging her to ask for packing tips from friends who have done that program or similar ones.</p>
<p>The usual 44 pound limit is not much stuff.</p>
<p>Rick Steves! Send her to his website to learn how to pack light. WWW.ricksteves.com :)</p>
<p>not much stuff, but you don't need much stuff, if we look at what we wear everyday, we repeat ourselves</p>
<p>you put in some basics, throw in some scarves, etc for variety, and believe me, your travel companions won't care if gosh darn, you wear the same shirt twice or even three times in one week</p>
<p>I'm going abroad for a year, and I plan on taking a suitcase and a duffel bag -- no more -- of clothing. I've consigned myself to the fact that this is all the room I have, and if I want to ship/check more, I'll have to pay for it myself. (And those international shipping fees sting badly).</p>
<p>Son did study abroad in Tibet this summer for 6+ weeks. Everything fit into a medium size backpack (including a sleeping bag and ton of camera equipment and lenses). Maybe guys need less stuff. :)</p>
<p>Thanks very much for the help. I just checked her airline's baggage limit - 2 pieces of luggage at 50 pounds each! Not much help there. But I've basically decided that she may have to learn the hard way. Much as I'd like to save her some trouble that may not be in the cards. In the bigger scheme of things, this is really not such a big deal. That's my lesson.</p>
<p>TwoTimer, check the limits of any international flights as well. Truthfully, they tend to let baggage limits slide, especially for people flying from countries with higher weight limits, but there's no need to tell her that.</p>
<p>Have her fully pack the bags the way she wants then tote them around the block a couple of times. Then have her pack more reasonably and tote that around the block. Also have her schlep the bags up and down some stairs. In countries in Europe and other places there are generally fewer elevators available but more stairs that need to be navigated. Doing the schlep test beforehand will help illustrate the difference. The weight of the Bags isn't intimidating when they're just sitting on the bed but they get exponentially heavier with the distance one must carry them. </p>
<p>Also remind her that most 'seasoned travelers', especially those who'll have to carry their own baggage somewhat, pack lightly and smartly. She can travel like an 'amateur' or she can travel more like a seasoned traveler.</p>
<p>D did study abroad this summer. She said she could have taken fewer clothes, but should have taken more underwear as doing laundry was a pain. Unlike her university where there is one card for everything, there were different cards for laundry, meals at study abroad cafeteria, etc. The guy who loaded the laundry card only came like twice a week at strange times and the kids didn't want to load too much on the card and then lose the money. On top of that, you then had to find time to do the laundry and compete with the other students. She mentioned several times that she could have put off the laundry had she had more underwear with her.</p>