Suitcase Woes

"My luggage, tired and true, given to American, now broken in two." -Adam Bosworth

Last night I decided it was time to get out my luggage and start packing for Malawi. Mostly to see if I'll have room for all the stuff I need to take, but also to alleviate some pressure I'm feeling as the date gets closer.

Sounds easy, right? Nope.

Now, I live in a precious little house in Winter Park that my roommates and I have affectionately termed our "cottage." It's small. So when Aubrey and I moved my room around last fall, the only storage space to speak of was under my bed. The suitcases went in the very corner. I was NOT going anywhere (so I had planned) so they'd be safe there for at least the next year. Riiiiiiiiiight

So last night after various failed attempts to extract aforementioned suitcases, I realized that the only thing to do would be to remove the mattress and box spring entirely. Remember, my house is small. I managed to lean the mattress up against my dresser; it was heavy, but no worries to speak of. Then I was able to lift up the box spring, but there was nowhere left to put it! So I tried holding it up as I scooted under to swiftly scoop out the luggage. Forgot it was heavy, though. So I ended up stuck under the box spring and straining a leg muscle stretching to reach the thing. For some reason, though, I didn't consider calling for help. Luckily Cindy walked by, but she wasn't much help initially since she was giggling too hard. Ended up with Cindy and I under the box spring, successfully getting the luggage, and Aubrey and Ben in the doorway looking puzzled.

Bad news part 2? As I grabbed the big suitcase (you know, the one containing all the others), the handle came off in my hand. Awesome. My sweet co-worker Crista has offered to loan me hers, and not even be concerned that it will get damaged on one of the 8 flights I'll be on.

Ann's Law of Luggage: The number of items you need to bring on your trip increases directly with the size of your luggage. Thus you can never bring with you what you need and you can never buy luggage big enough to adjust for your needs.

Hope it's a big one, Miss Crista!!!