Great suggestions, and of course, a great partner. :) I wish, as one other person here put it, that I was as skinny as some of the people traveling (including my partner!) but 3 years of fertility treatments messed with my skinny figure. I'm not huge, but I don't have the figure I had in my 20's.

I've had some great suggestions, and now I just need to find the right bag. The Ipod is great for movies, books AND music, so that will help. And if I don't take my laptop, I will take my small DVD Player. I'll see what new laptop I end up with when I take this one in. I love how small this Mac is, but one bump to my knee and the screen cracked! It's only 10 months old. Now the screen is bleeding and I can't see the whole screen. We're supposed to take it in today or tomorrow. If I have to get a new computer, I want to make sure I can save as much from this computer (all my travel photos!) as possible.

Keep up the suggestions, especially about the best roller-type carry-ons. I'm certain that the right bag will help- mine is not expandable and is too heavy. That's what I'm searching for now!

Oh Jen, I'm really not very skinny at all! I just really crush everything I own into my suitcase so everything ends up all wrinkled and creased! My shoes are small since I have small feet...so that helps with my shoe obsession. Judging by the photo you sent me, you're quite a hottie! I can't wait to do this and meet you in person, we're gonna have so much fun ;)

Awww- haven't been called a "hottie" since I was 30! Not quite, hun, but thanks for the compliment! And I, too, get wrinkled clothes. It doesn't matter how well I roll them to make room, they end up looking wrinkly. Not that it'll matter on the competition. I fully plan on doing as much "behind the scenes" work as possible. ;)

Nightclubs? Wow- another thing I haven't done in ages! I feel so old!:p

I don't think any of us do. ;)

I use a Victorinox 22" bag for my travels - it's expandable and qualifies as a carryon. Relatively lightweight but I'm sure there's lighter bags out there.

I use whatever the cheapest lighest 22" inch carryon I can find in Kohls at the moment is ( I am very hard on luggage) . My husband uses a 22" Travelpro and swears by
it.

And 20's - OMG - I had no kids - i am actually in the middle of packing and found a pic of me at 18 --- those were the days :)

costco makes an excellent carryon

Does this competition included train travel? If it does, then I'd strongly recommend lightweight, sturdy backpacks (Eagle, JanSport, Rick Steves) as hauling roller bags up station stairs gets old real fast.

Thaliajen: Agree with the other poster who suggested getting one of the new Netbooks (vs laptop or DVD). They are lightweight (2-3 lbs) most have 1-2G of Ram & 120-160 G harddrive & cost under $400. Perfect for internet, email, photo/video downloads & some of the new ones have battery life of 7-9 hrs. There is a ongoing discussion on FT Travel Tech on best models + that group of savvy techies could also give great advice on all your electronics.

Good luck to you both & have fun!