PACKING DETAILS

We're packing up around here, slowly. It's hard to put things in boxes or sell them, or give them away, before the last minute. This is always true for me, but is particularly so this time round, since we've only bought the bare minimum for living here and that means anything we pack is something we can't use in our last week here. So far, we've only been willing to let go of summer clothes and books. We've had conversations about which kitchen things can come with us and which need to stay here. I'm off to London again for interviews on Thursday and Friday, and we're seeing friends this weekend, so we're really getting down to the wire.

I looked at the airline requirements for baggage and I'm pretty annoyed with American Airlines at the moment. When we came over, we invested in the biggest size suitcases allowed on planes, and we packed them to within ounces of the weight limit. We also carried our hiking backpacks full to the top. And I had my fiddle in its case. We were loaded down and it wasn't much fun to get from Heathrow to Cardiff, but hey, everything we carried was something we didn't have to ship or leave at home. And we saved lots of money and lived in relative comfort by having the things we brought. The weight limit was 70 pounds per bag, on both airlines from Seattle to Heathrow. That weight limit is still true within the EU and on the first leg of our trip home. And the weight limit is allowed on American Airlines, the second leg of our trip BUT they now charge $25 for any bag weighing over 50 lbs. So, we can pack the same amount as we did coming over, but it will cost us at least $50 to make good use of our huge suitcases, the whole point of which was to avoid shipping charges and extra cargo flight miles and stuff.

Now, this is really a matter of principle, mostly. We knew the trip home would be expensive, and we've planned for it. But really, charging extra for what is standard elsewhere in the world annoys me.

I'm sure you're going to tell me that extra weight means extra fuel use and extra carbon emissions and my jet-setting self should have to pay for that. Probably true. But american airlines should also have to pay fuel tax and they don't, so whatever. I'd feel so much better about this whole thing if we'd been able to take a cargo ship home.

UPDATE: Our internet friend, DG, whose wife is a baggage handler for a major airline, wrote the following response:

"Extra weight also means extra chance of injury for the people who have to throw literally thousands of bags a day. Unfortunately, most airlines have been trying to get the same number of agents to throw more bags in less time... making Ramp Agents more likely to get injured on the job than any other job in the country (including long-standing favorites fishermen and loggers).

Not that I think AA gives half a shit about their workers, if it weren't for the union they'd be making them throw 800 pound bags and paying them a nickel a day. But I can't complain about anything that gives my wife a greater chance of making it through the year without winding up in traction."]