summed up in suitcases

Whenever we make the USA-Thailand trip we always have a lot of luggage. A lot of luggage.

The past three years has a been quite the checked bag learning curve. 

A few things we always do:

-Check the luggage allowance online--just to make sure how many bags we get and what the size limits are (not doing this has ended with some incredibly high baggage fees).

-Weigh our bags the night before (turns out the lift and guess method is not an exact science).

-Only take as many rolling carry ons as we have adults (minus an adult if you have a stroller). Carry ons are tempting as they have no weight limit and since we have five seats, we can have five carry ons, but we also have two layovers and and two people on our team are complete dead weights when it comes to pulling their own bags. 

-Request our bags are be checked all the way through.

-Always go out of our way to be really nice to the person checking us in--because we usually have a bag or two that is a bit overweight or a tad too big--and it turns out they have the power to let those things slid. 

It interesting the things we are willing to live without and those we aren't--the things that turn us into modern day Marco Polo's and even sometimes the occasional Himalayan sherpa. 

Really, nothing in these suitcases we actually need. A lot of these things we can buy in Bangkok (for triple the price). They are just the things we haven't been able to completely cut ties with. 

This trip was especially embarrassing as it wasn't our annual trip and we weren't stocking up on school clothes or Christmas presents. We just collected a random assortment of commercial goods that struck our fancy, most of which we had been living happily without. Now that we were reminded of their existence, we were willing to pack them along for 10,000 miles. 

Some of the things in this batch of ten bags and 1 carry on:

Bikes for E and V

50 lbs of frozen salmon and halibut

5 lbs of Tillamook cheddar cheese

Tide pod detergent

3 large packs of jerky

2 packs of fruit leather

Not nearly enough Reester Bunnies

About 50 hardback childrens' books (Rocky would say the number is closer to 100.)(basically if you invite my child to a birthday party, you will get a book. In my defense, it will be a good book and books really are the best gift.)

A 5 qt. dutch oven 

4 boxes of girl scout cookies

New swimsuits for all the girls

New sheets for everyone

Running shoes for three of us

Multiple jars of Biscoff cookie spread

Fruit snacks

Vanilla bean paste

A large box of duplo legos

6 spray bottles of suave detangler

4 bottles of suave 3 in 1 shampoo

And as many pampers diapers as we could squeeze in the empty spaces.

To name a few. 

I guess this is who we are, summed up in suitcases. 

I've always wondered,  what do other ex pats bring back with them from their home countries? 

Or what do you think you couldn't live without?

Checked bag tips?