From Munich, we hauled our considerable tonnage off to Heidelberg!
Let me say, in passing, that we all had packed very responsibly--lightly, even, given our various journeys. Dylan shouldered a mountain pack the size of a St. Bernard , plus another, only somewhat lighter, daypack (say, a Border Collie?), which he carried in front. I would only embarrass myself by calling him "Pack-Man". So, I won't. But, he did look like luggage with legs, walking around the train stations.
He was carrying, however, all his needs for five months travel in places as diverse as Finland and Tanzania, cold rain or snow, and tropical heat, dinner out and camping out. He took camera equipment and art supplies. All in all, I think he packed rather light.Rachel is also traveling long-term, but for only about 3 1/2 months. Her journey carries her through
a range of climate zones, as well, and it's not clear how easily she'll be able to access the rest of her stuff once she returns to the States. And she's a girl. So, "Big Green", her large roll-y suitcase, took a bit of muscle to lift into the luggage racks, and "bag o' stones", her so-called carry-on--well, 'nuff said. Tom and I each took a small suitcase and a daypack, plus one large, nearly emptly case, where we carried gifts for the Vajnas and random stuff, like coats. The plan was for us to take any of their surplus, or henceforth unnecessary items back home with us, to lighten their loads for the rest of their travels.And that's what we did. Dylan got to where he could stuff his daypack into the larger one (so he is
down one dog). Rachel swapped one of our smaller cases for Big Green, and replaced Bag o' Stones with a smaller, more streamlined, Stylish Tote o' Stones. This being a zero-sum game, Tom and I had a much heavier load coming back, but we have super-human strength--and also took full advantage of the FREE luggage carts in the Frankfurt Train Station/Airport.So, it remains to be seen how accurately Dylan and Rachel guessed about their needs in the coming months. We'll be curious...
