We haven't been OS since 2008, and haven't been on a plane since 2018. In fact, I worked out that, apart from a single trip to Townsville in 2018, our kids haven't even been outside SEQ.
As usual, Emma did the planning and the stressing and I tried to stay out of the way and offer moral support and hugs. The cost has certainly gone up since then, but probably roughly in line with inflation. I worked out at one point that this trip will be the financial equivalent of buying a laptop each day and setting it on fire, though that would probably be better for the environment than an international flight.
And Air BnB is very much a thing now (though Booking.com was around in 2008), so most things were booked through that platform. This is, in large part, due to Carl's food allergies necessitating a kitchen where we can prepare his food in a slightly more controlled way. Plus we're a bit fussy and spoilt. Though we did manage to find a Scandic with a kitchenette in Malmo, so we'll still get to gorge on its amazing breakfast buffet at least once.
Packing-wise, I'm opting to reuse my giant Kathmandu "Interloper" backpack from 2008 because it worked really well last time and gives way more maneuverability on cobbled streets, and on and off trains than a heavy wheeled suitcase (and I expect I'll be dragging at least one of the kids' cases). It also gives a more natural weight limit - reducing the temptation to pack everything just "in case". Emma is dubious and has opted for hard-case Samsonite luggage for her and the kids, after a bad experience on the work trip to Greece, where they managed to damage her suitcase on both directions.
Speaking of over-packing, we were tearing our hair out trying to keep under the 23kg weight limit ... until Emma finally noticed that our luggage scale was set to "lb". Switching it it back to "kg" doubled the amount we could take. Check your units people! I'm sure glad we noticed that before we weighed them at the airport (-:
Clothes-wise, we spent a lot at Anaconda (and made good use of the membership discount). I'm repeating my trick from last time, getting zip-off Mountain Design pants of two slightly different sizes so I can wear them at the same time if it gets really cold (I'm not going to bother with thermals this time since last time I barely used them and when I did they gave me a rash). I'm taking the undershirts from last time (which have served me well as swing-dance undershirts in the meantime). I also got some Columbia hiking boots that are as comfy as my old Colorado boots, and which will hopefully let me walk all day with (occasionally) a heavy backpack on wet/slippery paths. Plus it will hopefully help keep my plantar faciitis* at bay.
[*Inflammation of the foot arch tendon leading to heel spurs. Emma and I have both been afflicted since about 2019 - yet another minor health worry.]
My two indulgences will be taking my own pillow (Emma is too, but I ummed and ahhed quite a bit), and taking my noise-cancelling headphones. I've got a 128Gb SD card for my phone and downloaded a few 1-2hr "nature sounds" mp3s from the ABC, plus a 1hr track of roaring waves on a sandy Australian beach that will drown out just about anything. I've been practicing by using them as meditation aids. Emma fouind a cool pillow-holder bag that lets me roll it up into a small cylinder.
This is being written in Örebro since I'm already way behind and I wanted to write these in chronological order. So that'll do for now, and I may add things later if I think of anything else.
