suse

THANK YOU, THANK YOU , THANK YOU! I am going to print this out to share with everyone and tell them to get it in a carry on! The packing list is so helpful!

I know it is a whirl wind trip, but one friend believes it's the only time she'll ever even get to EUROPE, let alone, Italy, so we want her to see what she wants to see.

As for the special hair stuff...if you saw my hair....I absolutely need my hair creme that controls the frizz!!

I'm going to try to talk them into spending one extra night and doing the 2-2-4 stay. Do any of you know if we can rent an apartment in Rome for only 4 days? Many come with a washing machine, so we could absolutely pack less.

You guys rock! I really appreciate your help in a non-condescending manner. Make it easy to share with the ladies!

kfusto

I also am a fan of carry on only. IMO, it is all about the fabric and in choosing a mix and match color palette.

I prefer to rinse out lingerie rather than taking new for each day. I also exercise so my list includes 2 sets of workout wear, which I rinse out after wearing. I like dual function items like twin sets which allow me to change up my looks and I also pack belts and scarves which take very little room.

I choose non bulky fabrics and that allows me to have more options than if I lived in jeans.

It can be done and you will be very happy you packed this way instead of lugging stuff you really do not need on the trains.

Have a great trip!

Iowa_Redhead

I honestly wouldn't even dink with using a washing machine. When you have two nights somewhere, wash your bras and undies out in the sink and hang to dry over night (or just bras and take enough undies, they're small and light). They'll be mostly dry by morning but the extra night is nice to be sure. Capris and skirts can all generally be worn twice. If you've sweated a lot that day, simply rinse out the waistband as that's the part that is really up against your skin where you're sweating.

If you REALLY need to do a load of wash, just find a laundromat part way through (you can generally buy soap cakes there, take cash). Don't let that limit your choices on the places you stay because you can absolutely pack enough for a week in a carryon without doing laundry.

You said that you need a certain hair cream. That's fine! Just put it in a smaller bottle or jar ahead of time and see how much you need for a week. Remember that for carryon only, everything liquid or gel has to be put into 3oz or smaller containers and put into a single quart size baggie.

Do a search on the forum for packing topics (there are tons!) and you can get some ideas from those for what to take and what to limit.

On my recent trip with Mom, her 25" roller bag was a serious pain in the butt. It was TONS easier to just deal with my backpack (a standard carryon size rollerbag would have been fine too). I'm a complete believer in carryon only if you can reasonably do it. For a week, you'll be thanking your lucky stars that you don't have to dink with big bags.

adrienne

<< I absolutely need my hair creme that controls the frizz >>

I can relate to needing lots of hair products to control friz, I travel with conditioner, leave-in conditioner, and STR8 - lots of bottles. I'm so tired of the friz that I'm trying a new process next month that controls friz while keeping curl.

The good news is that Italy in June will be dry so you shouldn't have a problem.

TDudette

I'd do 2 Venice, 2 Florence and 3 Rome and get a city tour in each one. That way you won't waste extra time trying to find things. Reserve these online in advance.

And do take the train. Buy tickets at the station if possible.

The 2 travel days are going to "eat" your time. Hope you can arrive as early and leave as late as possible. The plane out of Venice used to be very early so you'd lose that day.

annhig

hi suse,

although it wouldn't be my choice, in normal circumstances your 2-2-4 option works well. However, with that sort of schedule, and jetlag, by the time you get to Rome, your friend with jetlag will be jiggered, making it no fun for her or you!

Unless you really feel that you'll never come to Italy again, I suggest missing out Florence [trust me, with this schedule you'll not remember what you saw there anyway] and going straight from Rome to Venice.

Why Rome to venice - because for someone with MS, the schlepp from Marco Polo airport to the city is a real pain, but the station is much more central. OK, you've still got to get to the airport, but by then you should have your bearings. in Rome, you can just hop in a cab/limo service [a number are recommended on this board] which can take you straight to your accommodation. [ground floor preferably!]

if it has to be Florence, then I suggest breaking your journey there, hiring a driver, and getting him/her to take you round for the day. OK, it might be expensive, but if you stay in apartments and with 4 of you, it won't break the bank. and in June you won't run out of daylight on your way to Venice.

good luck!

sarge56

janis- I'm curious. How do you "bundle" clothes when packing?

And I find it ironic that I find my clothes don't wrinkle at all if I roll them. If I lay them flat- always have dry wrinkles.

Funny. Well, Suse, you can try both ways. (Or all three, if janis can give us a little more insight on what "bundling" is.)

Re washing- We stayed at Hotel Casci in Florence. We'd been in Italy one week (on one carry-on bag each) and needed clothes washed. It was dirt cheap to let the hotel send them out. We dropped them at front desk in the morning and when we got back to our room that evening, clothes were on our beds, all folded in brown paper packages. I think we each had a dozen items washed (including underwear) and the total cost was like E11.00. Well worth it! So, check out if your hotel will wash. (If you are only staying 2 days in Florence, I suspect you will have hotel. DO check out the Hotel Casci. We've stayed there twice and won't stay elsewhere. Ask about the discount if you pay cash. http://www.hotelcasci.com/?gclid=CKP...FY5a7AodPy6fEA)

charnees

You can get an apartment for 4 days in Rome. We have done it several times. You can then wash clothes, if you need to. But most places don't have dryers, only a drying rack (which holds an amazing amount of clothes, BTW).

I used a 22" rolling bag last trip and had NO problem getting everything in. We were there for 3 weeks! Did laundry twice. You all need to agree that you don't care if you wear clothes more than once. And remember no one else will be aware of it anyway! (I have to admit that after 3 weeks I was kinda tired of those clothes, but so what?)

Here's how you bundle. Start with your longest items of clothing, like pants and skirts. Lay one flat covering the bottom of the suitcase, with the end hanging over the front. lay the next one with the end hanging over the left side. Then one hanging over the back, then another over the right side, etc. Then put in in shorter stuff like shirts. Finally make a pile of the small stuff like underwear, scarves, etc. in the middle of the stack of clothes, and start wrapping the loose ends across this bundle. Wrap it firmly, not loosely. When everything is wrapped snugly, you will find there's all kinds of room around the sides for shoes, toiletries, etc. Be sure you take advantage of ALL the room you have -- it's amazing what you can stuff into those corners.

elnap29

Hmm. Think I'll practice this 'bundling.' I'm not a successful roller --- ended up with more wrinkles than ever! But I've done OK with those Eagle Creek packing folders and cubes. If I can do without the extra weight of the packing folders, all the better... Thanks for the idea.

By the way, Iowa_Redhead, I enjoyed seeing your pics, and especially appreciated the pics of the trains with luggage areas as well as the ticket machines. I do best with visual cues! Thank you.

Dayle

You all must be much better packers than I am. I don't have a problem traveling light - 21" is fine, but no matter what method I use, I still get wrinkles. The only time I didn't was when it was a winter trip and all the cloths were knits, sweaters, etc.!

Here's one suggestion - if you can't find tiny containers, try REI. They have many choices for the backpackers. That's what I use!

Buon viaggio!

Leely2

Iowa Redhead, I am not a huge Florence fan but just wanted to say I looked at your (great) photos and am now thinking I should revisit. Thanks for posting the link!

janisj

Dayle: "<i> . . . no matter what method I use, I still get wrinkles.</i>"

Try the bundling like Charnees described. It is amazing. Literally almost nothing wrinkles. If you take the time to smooth each garment out before adding the next one, it works like a charm. My last packing class was about 4 weeks ago and when I got home I was tooooo bushed to unpack everything and put them away. So I stuck the case out in the garage and just last night remembered it was still packed. Not one item except a cotton tee was wrinkled (after 26 days). Even a suede leather big shirt in the bundle was wrinkle free.

I do it just a little different than charnees - but basically the same.

I put the 'heavies'-- shoes, non liquid toiletries, etc -- in the bottom and then do the bundle on top of them.

The reason nothing wrinkles is because nothing is folded/creased. Even dress slacks and such - don't get creased at the knees because they are bundled around a sort of pillow of other clothing and are cushioned.

I taught a huge youth orchestra how to pack for a trip to Russia and Finland -they were limited to carry-on's due to all the instruments -- and the boys needed <u>tuxedos</u>. All arrived in St Petersburg w/o a wrinkle in sight.

Jean

I put shoes and any other heavier items at what is the bottom of the suitcase when it is standing/rolling so that gravity doesn't pull them down. I put socks, tights, underwear, sleepwear and anything else that's stuffable on the bottom of the suitcase when it is laying flat to fill between the channels of the telescoping handle. Once the channels are filled, I do the bundle-type folding although most of what I take is knits and microfiber which don't wrinkle much. I use a lot of ziplock bags to separate clean and dirty, keep scarves from bunching, hold misc. items like the stretchy clothesline and inflatable clotheshanger, etc. IMO, the packing systems take up too much room.

Iowa_Redhead

elnap29, glad the photos were helpful!

Leely2, thanks! I really liked Florence, but that's partially because the food was fantastic. The views from the tower and the dome were great and I could happily return if I could spend some time in the countryside around Florence and not just in the city.


I've never been able to make the bundling clothes thing work. It works for packing once, but then I get where I'm going and have to unbundle everything back and forth to get to anything. I don't have much patience and everything ends up folded. If wrinkles bother me then I simply flick a bit of water at the item and hang it up over night. Between that and hanging in the bathroom when I shower, wrinkles pretty much disappear.

Everyone has their own way of packing, but a week in Italy is definitely doable with just a carryon bag.

suse

Great ideas, all of them! The ladies are really going to enjoy reading all of these. I told them we had to pack with carry ons. They said it wasn't possible...I said if the fodorites can do it, we can too, if we follow everyone's lead!

I could live without seeing Florence again, although I enjoyed my visit, but can't convince the others that it would be a good idea to drop.

I'm not dropping Venice. I adore Venice.

charnees

The thing about bundling is that you do have to unpack it all to get to stuff. It works for me because we never spend less than 4 or 5 days anywhere and so unpacking is fine with me. And I do try not to take much that wrinkles -- mostly knits and synthetics, although I did take three or 4 pieces that were cotton or linen. But they were fine after hanging overnight.

sarge56

One other hint. Take one of those small plastic spray bottles and fill it with Fabreeze. Instead of water, I use that. Freshens my clothes, too, for second wear without washing.

char and janis- thanks for explaining "bundling". I'll have to give it a try.

elnap29

Suze, when we first went to Europe, I bought the Rick Steves carryon backpacks, and my husband said, "No WAY!!" But he did it, and we both managed quite fine for 12 days, washing socks and undies at night in the hotel sink, and 1 laundry visit (mainly because we were so hot and sweaty). I'm a little unsure of this next 18 day trip in colder weather, but we'll just have to make it work.

janisj

"<i>I've never been able to make the bundling clothes thing work. It works for packing once, but then I get where I'm going and have to unbundle everything back and forth to get to anything.</i>"

"<i>The thing about bundling is that you do have to unpack it all to get to stuff.</i>"

One way to overcome that problem is to double bundle. If you have a series of 1 and 2 night stops -- just make 2 bundles. Half of your clothes and underwear in one bundle, half in another so you never have to unpack everything until you get to a longer stopover.

elnap29

Hmmm...Janisj, would you consider posting a photo to demonstrate your technique?