Packing = Real-World Tetris

Like a lot of geeky people my age, I played a fair share of Tetris when I was a kid. I was glad for those hours of fitting blocks onto a grid during what I did today - packing suitcases.

See the long orange block in this image? In the realm of packing, that's a tripod (in a handy-dandy travel case!). The blue 2X2 cubes are shorts & shirts. They can pretty much squeeze in anywhere. Purple L shapes are shoes, you do best when you put two matching ones together as a unit (stuffed with socks, of course).



Unfortunately, when packing, unlike in the game, blocks don't disappear when you complete a row. But, when packing, unlike in the game, you can almost always squeeze one more thing in.

In the end - we're going to make it on our trip with just one checked bag! It's a 50 lb limit, of which I think we're using about 49.999 lb (this is one of those times when I think .9 repeating may actually equal 1 - haha). We'll have 4 carryons in addition (purse, laptop, small suitcase, and briefcase-type bag), but at least we'll have only one annoying checked-bag fee, and not too much to tote around while making our connection tomorrow.

Otherwise, things are set and basically ready to go for our trip! I'll try to post some pictures here while we're away.