‘So, Susan, how do you pack for 5 months?’

‘When Sammy Met Tommy’

The simple answer? Buy another suitcase. A bigger suitcase. As many of you know, I pride myself on not paying baggage fees by taking everything I need in a carry-on plus a ‘personal item.’ That’ll do me for a week in Florida or a month in Europe. I also pack a ziplock of dry laundry detergent. I’ve been known to wash my shoes in a teeny little bathroom sink in Lucca. Until now, nobody knew that, but now you do.

My battered red Tommy Hilfiger bag has been to Hawaii a few times and Cuba. (I broke down and checked a big bag.) This time, he’s going a bit farther. And he has a new friend: Sammy, blue, birth weight 8.8 lbs / 4.0 kg. Last May I did a dry run to see how much I could fit into 26" Tommy: 7 pairs slacks, 8 pairs capris, 25 long- and short-sleeved knit shirts, 4 pairs shoes, 3 skirts, 2 swimsuits, 3 nightgowns, 2 yoga tops and pants. But there was no room for my yoga mat and skinny hangers. Enter: Sammy, product of Sammy’s Soft Goods Co., Est. 1926. Test packing of Sammy = yoga mat + 36 shirts, 4 more pairs of shoes, 3 dresses, all toiletries, and my new portable steamer for removing wrinkles from clothes and, if you read the fine print, personal wrinkles if I turn the steamer around and aim it at my face. For those of you who are paying attention, there is redundancy within the experimental packings. I don’t really need 8 pairs of shoes. Though one how-to-pack-for-a-cruise article advised taking 1 outfit for each day, in my case that would be 144 outfits. No, I will not be taking 61 tops, knit or otherwise, since there are launderettes plus laundry service on board. There will be a D-Day-like assemblage in my spare bedroom, starting any day now. In fact, I’ve told my friend who comes up from New York for almost every Cantemus concert that she will have to sleep on a couch this December since Sammy and Tommy are installed and the guest bed will be occupied — it’s the cruise staging area. Viking’s luggage forwarding minions arrive at my doorstep on December 5 to take both boys away: next time I see them, they will be in my stateroom. YAY! Look how much I’ve saved on baggage fees! #