The Infamous Fifty

I now have beef with the number fifty. Let me set the scene for you. It’s 9:32 p.m., my newly purchased luggage from Ross is packed, and I am ready to wind down and watch a movie with my dad before I go home. My mom and I are feeling so accomplished because we managed to pack all of my things into this suitcase and still have room on the other side for souvenirs. I am upstairs with my dad viewing movie trailers, trying to decide what to watch, and my mom is downstairs checking the airline website to make sure everything is in compliance when I hear it. Her shouting up the stairs, “Uh oh. We might have a problem.”

“What do you mean? What kind of problem?” I yell back, looking at my dad with worry and exhaustion. 

“I think your suitcase is too big.”

That sentence took five years off my life. 

My mom needed to check the size of my luggage, but I had already cut the tags off and threw them away because the bag was packed! It was mine. Why would I keep the tags?! My mom grabbed some kitchen gloves and started combing through the trashcan to find the luggage tags and check the size. Sure enough, the luggage was too big—a whopping 2 inches too big—but those two inches would have cost me $300. 

I made a joke, “To Target we go,” but my mom took it seriously. By 9:47 p.m., my dad and I were in my car, NASCARing out of the driveway, headed to Target. Mind you, Target closes at 10:00 p.m. 

We get there at 9:53 p.m., and I run into the store. As I am running to the luggage section, the overhead speakers are blaring, “Attention Target shoppers...” I finally made it to the luggage section and found the Robin’s Egg blue suitcase I was eyeing earlier on the Target app. I call my mom. That bag is too big. I turn around and look at the suitcases behind me, and again, it’s too big. At this point, I am stressed. Sweat is starting to collect in all the wrong places, my voice is rising on the phone with my mom, and I am anxiously looking around for employees waiting to kick me out of the store. I walk further up the aisle and find a teal 28-inch bag. Hallelujah, Thank you, Jesus; it’s the right size. Only, it's $173. Oh well, I’ll just pluck it from my money tree. My dad and I mad dashed to the registers as the lights were going out overhead and successfully checked out. 

Back at home, I had to unpack another suitcase and transfer my stuff from my beautiful white and gold luggage to the basic teal Target model. My mom and I somehow managed to make everything fit with room for souvenirs, only for the bag to weigh fifty-four pounds. I wanted to become one with the earth. I was so over it.

I needed to get rid of at least four extra pounds to avoid overweight baggage fees, but I didn’t know which four pounds to sacrifice. In my eyes, all my clothes were essential, and my toiletries had to stay. I start moving things from the suitcase to my carry-on backpack and drop a resounding three pounds, but I am still a pound overweight with absolutely no wiggle room for souvenirs. It’s at this moment that I decide to Marie Kondo my crap and become cutthroat. I decided at that moment that if I could not make more than two outfits with my clothing selection, the item no longer made the cut. 

I unpacked my packing cubes, started chucking clothes out, and started cramming toiletries into my backpack. After a couple rounds of heartbreaking clothing cuts, my final weight was 47 pounds. YAY! I ultimately decided that I would eat the cost of the overweight luggage on the way back or buy a small suitcase in Italy for my new acquisitions. 

With my luggage set and ready to go, I finished writing my second round of thank-you cards and headed home, arriving at 1:05 AM.

I would like to thank everyone who donated to my trip. I am so appreciative of each and every one of you; it is because of you that I am sitting here in BNA waiting for my flight to board. I am so excited and a little bit nervous! This is such a surreal experience! I feel like I should have an adult with me, but my mom reminded me that I am the adult now. 

My plane’s about to board, so I have to go, but I’ll be sure to keep you updated!