sea urchin, my undie sets are in zip lock sandwich bags in my shoes which were stuffed with lavender bags before packed :)

cigalechanta, I was going to answer your post but everything I wrote didn't come out right as you can imagine. Yes, plastic bags keep our undies fresh!

Really try to get it down to 3 pair (4 max.!) with the bulkiest pair on your feet on the plane (i wear my running shoes for comfort and because they are the biggest).

I layer them into the bottom or along sides of a 22" before I begin packing the clothes.

Thanks all...great ideas. Now I must go stare at my shoes.

Oh Natalie honey, I do know just what you mean.
I have been doing that lately, myself.
And I still cannot figure out how to keep it down to two pair instead of three....<i>or more</i>.
Then, when that is settled, I stare at the closet.

I'm going to Vienna for almost two weeks at the end of Feb. and I'll be packing 6 pair of shoes--boots for walking in the snow (fingers crossed that it does snow!), 3 pair medium stacked heel shoes (1 black, 1 brown, 1 very dark brown/black), 1 pair dressy shoes, and my sneakers for working out in the hotel gym. This is a combined business/leisure trip so I can't get by with just one or two pair of casual shoes (I work with Italians, they know footwear!). I'm will also be dining at some fairly formal restaurants and have a couple of parties to go to. Anyway, I put my shoes in old pillowcases...the pillowcases also do double duty as laundry bags. Like others, the shoes are stuffed with underwear, socks, etc. If you are taking a full size suitcase, then you should be able to fit several pair of shoes in with no problem.

Went to closet to stare at my shoes. This was an experience.

Some of them just stared blankly back; Some had their tongues hanging out. Some rested back on their heels casually, while others had a definitely pointed attitood.

It's true that when I pack, they all beg to come, and sometimes I have to be ruthless (my name isn't Ruth anyway). I do the reverse-elimination thing -- instead of sending one pair at a time back to the closet, I start with the one pair that I simply couldn't manage without. Then I find the ideal second runner-up. The rest have to go back to the closet -- but then there's always one that follows me back to the suitcase, begging and promising things, and I usually give in.

Sorry -- that was sort of eighth-grade, but the whole idea of staring at one's shoes kind of set me off.

BTilke -- &quot;hat's off&quot; to you for managing what you do! (Of course, hats are another thread.)

Cassandra, then <b>I</b> am sort of eighth grade because I laughed out loud and I agree!

Cassandra...that is wonderful. I had my laugh of the day.:&quot;&gt;

I wish I could find shoes that wanted to travel with me. Unfortunately I find it hard to find any shoes in my size (narrow feet) so my shoes are not crying to be taken....They are crying to be thrown away.

cassandra, :)

I realize that hazards for a guy of leaping into this conversation, but isn't taking several pairs of shoes to Italy a bit like carrying coal to Newcastle? Your credit card is easier to pack.

Ahhh, Dave, you smarty :D
A very good travel tip~

Scarlett, he does sound like a sweetie
now where does he live?


Mrs. Slocum

You and Mr. Slocum come up and see us some time! 01.43.56.33.38

LOl, see, you really are a sweetie. We spend time in France Profonde because when in Paris, my J. goes to bed early so I go alone to the corner caf&eacute; and take up smoking.

Dave's right. I found out the hard way. Just take one pair of shoes with you. That way when you buy new ones (of course you'll buy shoes - you're in Italy), you'll have room in the suitcase to take them home with you. Otherwise, you'll have to part with some of your shoes while you ship them home (and how will you ever decide which ones to send away and which ones to keep with you?)

Now I'm going to look at every beautiful woman smoking alone at a cafe in the evening and wonder....

Isn't life great!

Rule#1 Wear the bulkiest and heaviest on the plane.
Rule#2 Forget glamour, cross trainers will save your life walking around Europe. Cobble stones, marble stairs, walk, walk and walk!No bad backs, blisters and sore feet&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;&g t;&gt;
rule #3 only 1 pair of &quot;dressier&quot; shoes necessary for girls and guys, keeping rule #2 in mind. If the Italian and French ladies want to risk their lives toddling around in spikey &quot;Manolo&quot; slides over cobble stones, let them!
Rule #4 DO NOT BREAK IN NEW SHOES ON THE TRIP!!!!!
By the way, TAKING shoes to Italy is like the saying &quot;Taking coals to Newcastle&quot;. Italy is shoe manufacturing and shopping heaven of the world. Forget the fact they are more expensive than ever there!Still less than the US.
You are not paying import duty and local US sales tax and deparment store
sur charges! You go, Girl!!!

&quot;Where do you put your shoes?&quot; In my husband's suitcase, of course!

No, honestly, I only take a couple of pairs. Like BTilke, I put them in plastic bags but I use the cheap thin Safeway brand. I ratchet down the &quot;ties&quot; or whatever you call them in the suitcase that hold your clothes in place, which gives me space on the edge of the suitcase. THAT's where I put them.

In chapter one of Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles the young Sir Henry Baskerville leaves two shoes out to be cleaned and a thief steals just one. Why not two, Holmes asks himself and so starts the tale. But that was at the Charing Cross Hotel in London, so yours should be safe

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