First World Problems

The first time my wife and I took a trip to Hawaii we brought along 8--count them--8 pieces of luggage.  Four full-sized suitcases, two carry-ons and two "personal items" that were stowed under the seat.  As you can imagine--we were quite the sight in airports across the country and the Pacific--trying to grab all of those bags off the conveyor, lugging them through the terminals to the rental car shuttle buses and then trying to fit all of that into our vehicles.  As we prepare to embark on the same trip next year, we are hoping to cut back--especially now that Hawaiian Airlines charges bag fees--which were non-existent in 2005.

This time we won't be taking cold weather gear for Sunrise on Haleakala or biking gear for the ride down the mountain or hiking gear or night-time hiking gear--which should clear up plenty of space in the bags.  Except we have new "must bring along" items--mainly all of our electronics.

A preliminary list shows 3 cameras, 2 cell phones, 2 Ipods, a GPS unit and an e-reader will all have to make the trip.  And with them will have to come all of their chargers.  The only problem is, how many hotel rooms and bed and breakfast bedrooms have NINE electrical outlets to charge all of that stuff at the same time?  Although I have noticed some hotel chains are now placing outlets and USB charging ports near the bedside tables--but that still won't be nearly enough.  So now I am forced to buy a seven-port USB charger (the absolute largest unit I can find online) to bring along on the trip.

But then you start thinking, "well we are only going to be in the room at night--and we will be using the cameras and the GPS and the e-reader all day somewhere else.  How will we keep them charged then?"  and that leads to the purchase of multi-port car chargers--and research into how many charging ports (they don't call them cigarette lighters anymore) does a new Jeep Wrangler have?  And how many amps does that put out?

But what about the times we are out on a boat or in a helicopter and a camera battery is getting low?  Well then you need to have a portable charger (that you plugged into the seven port charger earlier) to power up in case of emergency.  And what if the Ipods and the Kindle go dead on the four hour plane rides?  Well then you get the Extra Comfort Economy class seats with the built in charging plugs--alternating the items as they get drained.

It's hard to believe all you have to bring along nowadays--just to get away from it all.