This trip I packed a lot. Most of the stuff I brought wasn’t really for me, per se. Natch there were clothes and things, but I think the bulk of the weight was from the gifts, mostly the liquid stuff — beer, wine and American whiskey. It’s ok; I wanted to get in good with my wife’s family, most of whom I hadn’t met previously. So my bag coming over was right at the limit. I was probably holding my breath when it was weighed at the airport, but it was just a shade under some outrageous over-weight fees. Given how it was coming over, I was looking forward to going home with a lighter bag.

My plan was going along just fine, until I got married and inherited a family. For some reason they think that a wedding is a time for celebration and gifts. Or maybe they feel that, as a bachelor, I simply never acquired the basics for setting up a home. I’ve read stories in the past about how two older people (I.e., not in their twenties) felt the need to point out that at this stage in their lives they have all the household items they needed, and all they really wanted from their friends and family were their wishes for a happy and successful marriage. That would have been nice here, I think, but that would definitely be going against tradition.

As a result, I now have more stuff coming home than I did coming here. It’s all very nice of them, but I’m guessing that they haven’t really traveled internationally before. My wife would just keep showing up with these bags of things for us, and telling me I can just put it in my baggage. (Warning: the next sentence contains a Doctor Who reference.). Unfortunately, I left my TARDIS-style bag at home, so yesterday I had to buy another piece of luggage. (The previous Doctor Who reference was in honor of the 50 year anniversary of the show. We now return to our regularly scheduled post.) while the bag I brought might actually end up being light, that isn’t much of a victory considering that I picked up a second bag.

The gifts are, of course, all very thoughtful. There are some household items, such as a fry pan and a multipiece set of cookware, some more decorative than functional dinner plates, and two mugs from my wife’s mother’s dinnerware collection. (I think there’s some symbolism there, but I’m not completely sure.) I also have an item from Victoria’s mother to my mother, as well as one other “targeted” gift. My wife also gave me a couple things: a Bible in Russian (kind of neat, even if I can’t read it), and a novelty lightbulb that I think will make for a good Christmas display. The big thing is a new comforter from her son; it was this that really prompted the need for a second bag.

Although my wife was insistent that I take the items with me on the plane (because otherwise they would just be stolen), I did take a quick look at maybe using Fedex or UPS. I had to guess on some info, but given what I thought were some reasonable values, the resulting costs seem pretty outrageous. I had to verify that I was actually looking at the quote in dollars. So even with buying a bag and needing to pay extra baggage fees for three flights, it will still be cheaper to take these items home with me. (Of course, there is always the convenience factor of not needing to schlep around two suitcases. Once I get home, I’ll know for certain if I really came out ahead.)