wnab1q

I read with interest the thread about packing light - sounds like a wonderful way to go. Here is our dilemma:

Week 2 of our June trip will be spent in Strasbourg, hubby is finishing his MBA there and must have suits & ties, dress shoes, all the stuff you wouldn't want to take on vacation.

I understand it is pretty common for MBA classes to go to the university there and my guess is they use the same hotels and must be used to students coming in.

My thought is packing that stuff up and shipping it directly to the hotel before we leave. Otherwise we will have to deliver it ourselves before doing anything else or lug it with us and we are leaning toward using trains. (flying into Frankfort)

What type of shipping would be best? Any other ideas out there besides renting a car to store it in?

Bird

I'm not sure this is an answer to your problem, but I'll tell you what I did a couple of years ago. I took a week of traveling by train before coming back for business (in Cologne). I was flying in and out of Frankfurt. I asked the Marriott in Frankfurt to hold my heavy luggage for me for a week. When I was finished traveling, I stopped into Frankfurt on my way to Cologne and picked up the bag. (I stayed the last night at the Marriott before my flight.) They wouldn't even accept a tip for the service.

Winnepeg

Not sure if I understand your question either, but I'll tell you what i am doing this summer to deal with a similar problem.

I checked with the US Postal Service and found that is is very cheap to ship my stuff from America directly to the town I am staying in. It'll take 6 weeks, but it is cheap.

Check their webpage and navigate to the international shipping rate section.

I am not sure if you want to ship the stuff from America to Strasbourg, or are you trying to ship it from a town in Europe to Strasbourgh.

wnab1q

Sorry, we want to ship from America directly to the hotel.

hopscotch

A few years ago I had a business trip which included 3 weeks at a refinery in Nigeria and 3 weeks at an office in The Hague, flying in/out AMS/LAX. I packed my Holland clothes in one suitcase and left them at the baggage check room in Schiphol for 3 weeks.

If I read your story right, you want to be a tourist for a week before hubby hits the books. Forget suits and choose one suit (better -- one sports coat and two slacks), one pair of shoes, a few shirts, and a few ties. He'll probably find that the other students are dressed in their same garb every day, maybe Birkenstocks and Levis. Who is looking?

Is he finishing an MBA in one week, or are you camped in for a stretch? Your message is confusing/incomplete.

What you want to do is have some great meals in Strasbourg, and don't miss that mussels place from Brussels.

hopscotch

I should have noted that the train from Frankfurt to Strasburg is 2 hours with 1 or 2 connections. There is almost certainly a baggage check room at Frankfurt Hbf or Frankfurt Flughafen (airport) train station that will hold your bag for a week. You can scoot back to Frankfurt to get the bag and then

ira

Hi wna,

Have you tried UPS or FedEx?

hopscotch

oops! -- hit the wrong button.

catch an ICE south to connect to Strasbourg.

Bird

Let your hubby wear his suit and tie and dress shoes on the plane. He might even find room for his Mont Blonc pen in his pocket. The MBA students I knew in Paris didn't wear suits unless it was to an interview.

wnab1q

This will be his final week of classes for his MBA and they will be visiting corporate offices of companies like Mercedes Benz and are required to wear jacket & tie most days. He would shoot me if I suggested he wear a suit for 9 hours on the plane!

We have decided to spend most of our free week in the Munich area so traveling to Strasbourg first won't be too bad, I guess.

janis

"jacket and tie" doesn't mean "suit and tie". A sports coat and slacks is probably totally acceptable. Most guys I travel with take a sporst coat every trip (except to Hawaii or a tropical resort). It is still very possible to pack light w/ a sports coat. And ties don't take any room at all. A Harris tweed jacket or other sports coat works just as well with jeans as dress slacks so it is a very versatile garment.

I'd just pack a sports coat (or even better, take it on the plane) and not worry about shipping it ahead.