packing light gets harder as you multiply

My wife and I used to think we were hip, light travelers - we even hoped to book ourselves a backpacking trip for Southern France at one point. We could survive on a few pairs of underwear and socks, a bar of soap, and some light, layered clothing. Traveling light makes for such an easier trip. There's less baggage to carry, less to pack and unpack, and you can usually skip the baggage claim altogether if your bags are small enough to be carried on a plane. We took many of these "light-footed" trips when we were younger and saw no reason to change our travel style.

Then we had kids and reality hit. At first, there was the baby furniture that we had to bring along - the playpen, the stroller, the carseat, etc. Sure, you can get a playpen at most hotels nowadays (with some other kid's vomit and urine stains all over it), but stroller and carseat rental is ridiculously expensive. Carseats can easily add an extra $5 or $10 per day to your auto rental, and there have been numerous reports about family vacation destinations like Disney World charging more for stroller rentals than one would pay for a car rental. Although kids clothes are smaller and don't take up much room in a suitcase, they tend to get dirtier more often so we find that we sometimes have to bring several changes of clothing for each day.

So it looks like we won't be traveling quite as light as we would have hoped this summer. And it probably means that we'll be waiting at the baggage claim like everyone else. Honestly, I can't stand waiting for my luggage. Somehow, our suitcases are always the last to come down the ramp, and there's always some moron who mistakes one of our bags for his own. Sometimes, I find that security left one of our suitcases partially unzipped. That's always fun! I can imagine my stray bikini briefs tangled up somewhere in the conveyor belt system...

Airport security has become a real headache. I understand the reasons behind it, but I wish that everything didn't have to be so slow and difficult. Trying to get through security while holding our shoes in our hands with the kids at our sides is a real hassle. Why couldn't they just add x-ray machines under the floor? The security personnel are usually in a bad mood, too. I'd also like to know how they can avoid being responsible for damaging people's luggage and other personal belongings. My laptop bag once got ripped going through the x-ray, and as I've already mentioned, they've managed to break the zippers on our luggage several times in the past. Let's just say that I am glad that we haven't yet splurged on an expensive set of Briggs and Riley or Andiamo luggage. It stings enough just to see our little American Tourister set tumble down the conveyor belt with duct-tap wrapped around it!