excess baggage

A mass balloon launch in San Diego, California, 2014.

A story from the mid-2000s, when we were still checking our luggage:

We were planning a family vacation to California. At that time, our children were 4 and 6. To make things easy for us, we usually packed in only one or two shared suitcases that we checked at the airport, then everyone had a small-ish carry-on bag with in-flight essentials, such as Goldfish crackers, M&Ms, stickers, small toys, etc. That made it easy for each parent to have a suitcase in one hand and a child’s hand in the other.

For this trip, when we bought our airfare, the checked bag weight allowance was still a max of 70 pounds per suitcase. Not long after that, the limit was reduced to 50 pounds or less, but because we had already bought our tickets, we were still allowed the higher weight limit.

We packed a lot in that bag, and we weren’t sure if it was less than or more than 70 pounds because we did not have a way to weigh the bag at home. If I recall correctly, since this was around 2005 and before smartphones and tablets, we probably had some children’s books stuffed in there too. Just in case, I brought an almost-empty medium-sized duffle bag that could accommodate overflow from the suitcase.

We arrived at the airport and checked-in. We put our suitcase on the scale to be weighed and tagged. The airline staffer checking us in looked at the weight and gasped.

87 pounds.

She thought we were 37 pounds overweight. Luckily we were “only” 17 pounds over. I scooped out some of the contents and shoved them into the duffle bag, which brought us down to the correct weight, and off our bags went to the plane.

Not long after that trip, our children got their own carry-on size rolling bags, and we all switched to individual carry-on size luggage when we traveled.

My husband and I were remembering this story recently and laughing at us rolling a 70 pound suitcase around on vacation. Oh how things have changed.

What’s the heaviest or most you’ve packed?