Kelly's World

As per my last post, one of the items I’m looking to buy before heading overseas will be a couple of new luggage cases for Mat and myself. It’s important that whatever we get, it’s of good quality (of course), but most importantly, we will use it again. I don’t want something so big and chunky that we use it only when we take the big trips, and the rest of the time sits in the cupboard taking up space.

Walking into a bag store in my local shopping centre, I was amazed to find the duffel bags on wheels. It reminded me of something we could take camping, yet not struggle with in the airport thanks to its wheels. Our backs would be saved. I was then further impressed by the ones that you could even unzip the the front to turn it into a daypack. As some of you seasoned travellers might have picked up on already, I never look at luggage on sale so this all came as totally new to me. The only problem with the one in the shop was that it was extremely ugly, so I passed.

I’ve been doing a bit of research on the internet today, and this is similar to what I’m looking for: http://www.luggagedirect.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=23&products_id=452&osCsid=1fb25f1bccbe1cd3c87ff0873b816fca. I won’t be purchasing it off the internet though, because I want to be able to feel and handle the bag myself, I don’t like the risk factor involved with the internet. I don’t want to spend the money only to hate it when it arrives, and I’m also very impatient so as soon as I’d bought it, I would want it immediately *grin*

The daypack is an excellent idea, it would serve us well when doing day tours and walking out and about, especially if we’re lugging my digital and video cameras (if I get my way). So I think I’ll be settled on one pack like that, and one a proper hardcovered luggage case.

It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged, and as such there will probably be no one reading this…*grin* We’re travelling overseas next year, the huge family trip to America to celebrate my mother’s 60th birthday. For me, this is particularly exciting because I’ve never been overseas before. And reflecting upon this, a few things became apparent to me:

1 – There is no way in hell our current luggage will suit both Mat and I for a month overseas. It manages to last a 2 days, a week at most if we pack extremely light. So we’ll need to buy some new bags, one for both of us as we expect to pick up a lot of stuff when we’re over there.

2 – I want to document this trip as much as I can. Yes I have a camera, but that won’t be enough. A camera doesn’t record the ridiculous things we say and do which we reflect on for years to come (I quote – “smell that bush”, or Aunty Sue dropping her ice cream, or our giggles when we found “big cock” written on the sand, or Madonna stomping on ET’s head while he was breakdancing). Hence, I’ve decided to purchase a video camera. I want to capture the fun times on film, and the mundane things, and produce a movie which we can watch together as a family. Yes, that means we’ll be having movie nights in 20 years. But no doubt this will come in handy even after the trip, as Mat will want ego videos of his 4wd’ing adventures.

3 – Partly in conjunction with the last point, as well as a desire to be able to communicate with people back at home, I want to buy a smalll compact laptop. It will serve two purposes – the tool used to transfer photos & videos from my video and digital cameras to a store device, and the wireless feature allowing me to email my friends from free internet hotspots (like starbucks).

I have been told I’m planning far too in advance, but how am I going to budget for these additional purchases if I don’t start thinking about it now? I need to research, keep my eyes open, get bargains when I can. Any suggestions anyone has (if you’re still reading this) would be fantastic, otherwise I will probably just keep you posted on any reviews and purchases I make. Cheerio!