oasis,

I took one not so large but bigger than carry on bag to Italy and had to switch trains 3 times. On the return trip, I felt a distinct twang in my back. Yup, pulled a muscle and could barely walk to my seat. Ate a ton of ibuprofen and begged a stranger for help with the bag. I'm not that old, have a good back, and travel a lot.

Honest, I only used about 1/3 of what was in that bag on my trip...

Be brutal about leaving things home and you will have a better trip.

gruezi

Thank you to everyone for all their replies.

Perhaps I should have given more information. My mother and I will be staying in Italy for a month prior to the potential journey on the trains. We will be arriving in Rome via a plane flight first to London, from Boston, and then a flight to Rome. So obviously with the flights, our bags are not an issue (we did this same trip last summer).

Of course, I have major concerns for the trains, even more so with all these replies. It appears it will require far too much work and effort to travel by train with all these bags. Having less or smaller bags sadly will not be an option. So my new question is.......

Can anyone provide any information regarding companies where I can mail, say, a luggage bag each back to Boston from Pescara or Rome? I think the train trip would be doable if we both just had one suitcase each, and that being the "smaller" suitcases for us both.

So if anyone knows of any reputable companies where I can ship 2 suitcases from Rome or Pescara to Boston, that would be great. Thanks!!!!!

Sorry -

I don;t understand the difference that 30 days makes. Do you wear each thing only once - and thus have to take 30 of everything?

I can take a full business wardrobe (several suits, silk shirts, matching pumps, 3 evening outfits) plus enough vacation clothing for a couple of weeks in one 26" bag.

You simply do laundry or dry cleaning on the way. Much easier than dragging around everything you own - and I'm sure cheaper than shipping large size suitcases home.

You say, "Obviously, with the flights" it won't be a problem to have enormous amounts of luggage. You will have to claim your bags, carry them in and out of airports and to your apartment. And many airlines have drastically cut their bag limits since your last trip.
Honestly, I am a firm believer in chacking bags, but the thought of two suitcases makes me start to sweat and my back hurt. Really, they do have stores in Italy!

I really appreciate the responses on my thread, but with all due respect, I do ask that any further replies be directed towards my new question, which is whether I can send a suitcase or two from Pescara/Rome, back to Boston, via a service that will allow me to train back to London with one suitcase in tow for both my mom and I, or both of us.

I really don't appreciate the numerous comments that question why I need to travel with so much stuff. My mom is a heavy packer, I will admit that, and nothing that I say or do will change that. Please don't tell me to pack less stuff, I'm only asking for advice regarding my situation. Yes, I know packing less would either eliminate or help my issue, but it simply is not an option.

And in regards to drycleaning and purchasing clothes abroad: we encountered very high prices when forced to dry clean a few items before our return last year. And this was in Pescara, not a major city like Rome or Florence. And lastly, buying clothes in Italy makes no sense. Given the Euro exchange rate, it would cost me and my mother a great deal to buy clothes abroad, and more importantly, we have plenty of clothes in the first place.

So again, please stop saying "pack less", purchase clothes abroad, or anything about how awful it will be even to fly with such big bags. We did it last year, it was totally fine, and maybe everyone is visualizing bigger bags than what I really mean to describe.

Thanks.

Perhaps if you gave us the measurements of the bags we could do some more accurate visualizing.

You can ship stuff anywhere from an Italian post office. You might have to transfer the items to boxes, though, and ship the actual piece of luggage in a separate box.

Fedex and DSL are also in just about every country in the world. I think googling them would probably elicit their locations in Italy.

If you did it last year and it turned out so peachy keen - then do whatever you did last year

(&quot;<i> I really don't appreciate the numerous comments . . . . </i>&quot; Not one person was disrespectful or hard on you. They were just voicing their opinions)

janisj - we are reading the same thread.

oasisboston - if your Mom insists on packing so much stuff, honestly, let her deal with it.

We all packed WAY too much stuff on our first trip to Europe. Dh, myself, two daughters, as I wrote earlier - what a site we were to behold.

Even my 11 year old dd has said &quot;No way am I dealing with THAT again&quot;... because honestly she WAS made to handle her own stuff. One thing I said was &quot;You pack it it is your issue&quot;.

If it was not a problem last year I imagine you will be fine this year.

Regarding the Laundry. We had laundry done in the center of Florence and it was very resonable.

Hi, Oasis! You and your mom are so fortunate to have this trip together! I will add two things to the rest:
1) the issue of getting the suitcase to the hotel from the train (how far and will you use a taxi?)- even though I am a devoted one-small-bag traveler, it can get heavy after the first ten minutes, and difficult in crowds and
2) post offices in Italy are not as efficient as some other countries- although you might get lucky!- just plan on the process taking some time. You can get those pre-paid boxes and cram them as full as possible with your clothes. It's going to be expensive, though. Last summer, at those euro exchange rates, for example, a shoebox- sized pre- paid box (in France)was $30 US and the next size up was nearly $50US!
There are racks, to return to your original question, where you can keep big bags at the end of each train car. You will be leaving them unattended unless you can sit right there.
Lastly, is there a reason you couldn't fly from Florence or Milan's airport to Paris?
Good luck!

Oasisboston:

Faithful traveling companion and I shipped one 28 inch rolling bag from New Jersey to London via UPS in April. It cost more than $400. It also made it possible for us to take two 21-inch rolling cases on a one-week jaunt from Amsterdam to Antwerp to London by boat and train and it was worth every cent we spent. We too were excoriated for overpacking when we inquired on this board about the possibility of shipping the bag but we used almost everything we brought -- or sent --along. (We could haved left out one pair of trousers and one shirt each.) I suggest you check with your local packaging service in Boston. They should be able to give you the locations of corresponding services in Italy where you can drop off the excess.
Hope you and your mother enjoy your trip as much as we enjoyed ours.

Oasis:
Thank goodness you've abandoned the thought of going by train with all that luggage. A few years ago I went with a friend who insisted on taking her 29&quot; suitcase (plus small carryon,purse,etc.).

At every station the train was <i>swarmed</i> the instant the doors opened. The boarding only lasts a few minutes--maybe 6 at the most. The doors are very narrow, the steps very steep. And it doesn't get any better...after the steps you're in a tiny area for luggage storage. It was always crammed with bodies, making it difficult to maneuver.

I've rarely seen anyone as miserable as my friend was. She was in a heart-stopping panic every time we had to change trains.

Whenever I see a thread about trains and large luggage, I wish I had a photo of her trying to board with that 29&quot; monster. I would post it here and let it speak for itself.