After much planning we arrive on a snowy morning in March. The strangest part of travel for me this time with kids is the amount of luggage! I've always prided myself in packing light, but I never had a child with a dust and mold allergy before. One HUGE duffle bag was full of bedding only. We have NASA designed pillows that are dust impermeable, mattress encasings (that will become futon encasings), dust mite neutralizing sprays for the tatami mats, our own laundry detergent from the allergy store and then a whole pharmacy of nasty pharmaceuticals that are 'just in case' and then the whole arsenal of the 'natural' stuff we use until emergency status arises. Hopefully all will go well, but I have to say I was rather mortified when we hailed our mini bus from the airport and our luggage outnumbered us by more than two to one. I felt ashamed and wanted to explain that I am actually the lightest traveler I know. I once spent a month in south east Asia with a book size Jansport. We were moving into 300 sq ft with 150 sq ft worth of baggage. uh oh.