There is lot to found on the internet about travelling light. Anyone who is an expat and especially those of us that have children will know that travelling light is distant memory. We recently arrived back to Dubai as a family for three with 135kg of luggage. My parents have now started taking us to the airport in two cars. Once we’ve arrived we need assistance from a porter as there is now way that Mr Mermaid can fit four suitcases and a prampack on one trolley while I wrestle with the handluggage and the Little Mermaid in her pram.
Some of you are probably asking how do you manage to take so much stuff without paying extra. The answer to that is to fly with Dubai’s biggest airline. They have a 30kg per person luggage allowence and that goes up to 42kg if you are silver. Next to that you need to travel with a toddler. As she had her own seat she had her own allowence of 30kg plus you are allowed to take a prampack as well. Technically this should contain a pram, or a car seat but they don’t really check. Ours was filled with a Tripp Trapp highchair, an extra base for the car seat, a kidsit which is a buggy board with a little seat on it and tons and tons of dirty laundry. The other four suitcases contained clothes both for the Little Mermaid and for her little brother who’s on the way, toys, Dutch things such as cheese, souvenirs, lots of children’s books and goodness knows what else.
Then there was also a fair amount of handluggage. I never seem to get it right when flying with the Little Mermaid but would rather overpack then underpack. A Cares harness, Nappies, snacks, toys, clean clothes, dummies, ipad, headphones and water are all essential. Ever the optimist I always bring a book too. Goodness knows why I haven’t been able to read on the plane in years. If I am lucky I get to watch one movie and see the end of it. For me a pram is also essentiel. We have a YOYO ZEN and it one of those super compact prams. It’s so small that once folded up and put in a bag it is allowed in the overhead locker. I know that you are usually allowed to bring your pram to the plane and then they put it down in the hold, but once you arrive you won’t see it till you get to the baggage hall. Emirates provides prams in their terminal which is fantastic, but I have never seen them anywhere else. So once I get off the plane all I need to do is fold open the pram. wrestle the toddler in and I’m off!
Mermaid in the Sand 