When last talking with Linda, this column’s “North” writer, I mentioned that my husband, daughter, son-in-law, and I were flying to Florida to visit my father-in-law. As our conversation ended, Linda said, “Have a nice holiday.” Images of ornamented Christmas trees came to mind, and I started humming “Deck the Halls.” Then I remembered: Oh, yeah, a holiday to Canadians is a vacation to Americans.

No matter what you call it, legendary Author Unknown says, “A vacation is like love—anticipated with pleasure, experienced with discomfort and remembered with nostalgia.” I agree.

My anticipated pleasure is wondering if I will find an airfare that doesn’t cost more than a college education. My experienced discomfort begins with packing. For this most recent week-long trip, I spent countless hours thinking about what to bring. Then I spent countless hours stuffing everything into a suitcase, a humongous tote bag, and my purse. This took an entire day. In contrast, husband Jim spent five hasty minutes packing his one tiny suitcase.

When daughter Sarah and son-in-law Jed arrived at our home with their luggage, I felt vindicated. Combined, they had two hefty suitcases, a briefcase, a laptop computer, and a purse.

Hauling luggage for four is laboring—it must go in and out of the car, on and off the airport shuttle bus, and get through security. The latter happens only if you have followed the rules and there are many. (Oddly, the rules vary by airport. More on that later.)

Lastly, once on the plane, you must hoist your luggage into an overhead bin. Unless you are the Incredible Hulk or Wonder Woman, this is challenging.

After a fun-filled week of visiting, golfing, swimming, and making memories, we headed back to the airport, luggage in tow. When leaving Chicago, Sarah breezed through security with a suitcase, laptop, and purse. Unlike Chicago, Florida’s security strictly enforced the two-item rule and told her she could not take three items. Annoyed with the inconsistency, she jammed her purse into her suitcase to comply only to remove it once through security.

Jim never uttered a word about our excessive packing. But when we arrived home, He Who Took The Least, proudly unpacked several pieces of clean clothing he had never worn. Lucky for him, I was preoccupied remembering our vacation with nostalgia.

~Chicago Mary