Well I'm pretty excited because my trip to Australia is coming up in 10 days. But with that excitement is of course nervousness since this is not something I do often.

I'm taking UA from Boston to LAX and then Qantas from LAX to MEL. I am checking two bags...staying there 6 weeks and bringing a lot of clothes plus some other things I use on a daily basis...including my favorite pillow. Now that probably sounds kind of dumb to bring a pillow with me, but the last two years I have visited, my friend had no good pillows and we went searching but couldn't find any. Plus I have a lot of neck issues and the pillow I have now has been the best thing that has happened to me in a long time.

All that in mind, my first piece of luggage is a big rolling suitcase, the biggest that's allowed (62 linear inches). I am trying to purchase a duffle bag that is big enough to carry my pillow and a few other things, and I found one that's 14"x30" that seems like it'd do the trick but the issue now is that Qantas says that the total linear inches allowed for two pieces of baggage is 106 inches. It would be fine if it was just 14x30 added to the 62 inches of my first bag but I don't know what the depth of the bag is and I'm afraid they'd not check the second bag for me on the way back. Since my initial flight on the way out is with UA, they allow two bags up to 62 linear inches each, and I have to pay for the second one so it will go all the way through just fine on the way over. Just worried about my trip back, that they will stop me because the bag is too "big". What do you think? I have a feeling they won't even take a second look at it.

I wouldn't risk it on Qantas unless you want to be hit with excess baggage charges.

If you are staying with a friend and can presumably do laundry, do you really need so much luggage (even allowing for the pillow)? Pillows are a very personal thing, of course, but I am surprised you have been unable to find a therapeutic pillow in Melbourne previously (if that is what you meant in your post). It is a city with a population of over 4 million, after all.

Well, she is not in Melbourne...she is a few hours north of Melbourne in a small town and traveling to Melbourne is a BIG deal for her...she is not capable of driving there herself yet and has two Autistic teenage boys that make it difficult to do anything. She has had friends drive her down to come pick me up but once we get "home" we don't go that many places. We did travel to the various towns to look for pillows and we found some alright, at a hefty price tag of $180! And we couldn't even find "regular" pillows anywhere. It was really bizarre.

As for my clothes, yes, I can do laundry there, but she doesn't have a dryer, and it takes sometimes 3 days for things to dry once she actually does the laundry since she hangs it up in the house. Awkward, but it works...however, getting the laundry done and dry is a chore so I have to make sure that I have a few things I can mix and match. I don't have a LOT of clothes, but I will be bringing a few pairs of jeans and several tops. I also bring music books because I am a musician and they often like for me to play out there.

On second thought, some of the stuff going into my big suitcase won't be there on the way back and I may be able to pack everything into my big suitcase on the way back.

Hmm...decisions decisions!

I really am a noob at all this.

Got it. I just PMed you with some suggestions for places to look at pillows in Melbourne (including therapeutic pillows) but I guess it will be hard to get to those (quick detour into town on your way home from the airport?). I can imagine that the choice is more limited outside the city unless you can get to one of the larger regional towns like Bendigo, Ballarat, Geelong, Albury. And even then....

Hopefully at this time of year you won't have too much trouble with clothes drying as it is warm (but pouring today!).

From your description it does sound as if everything couldl fit into one suitcase anyway. Even jeans don't really take up that much room if you pack them well. And the case you have is very large. I'd do a trial pack before buying anything new. You could mail the sheet music? Don't know how long it would take to get to a regional address though.

yeah, the main issue with my big bag is that it's heavy since it has rollers. Everything could fit into it, sure. But the weight would be way over so I figured I'd bring two bags. My music is in two big binders...which are relatively heavy. They have about 220 chord sheets (even though I play piano, it's what I use) to various songs and if I had a super great memory, I could go without them, but I don't hahaha. I'll figure it out.

I think what I will do is put the pillow in the big suitcase and stick with a smaller bag for other stuff. I can stuff clothes and the goodies I'm bringing in a smaller bag. I am bringing two big bags of Reeses Peanut butter cups upon request, and I am bringing real maple syrup, just a pint of it but enough for my friends to get a taste. Also bringing Hershey's cocoa powder because I make "American brownies"...I tell them they're not American brownies, brownies are brownies...I don't get that lol. But anyway, I make them and I want to compare the Hershey's cocoa to the Nestle cocoa...not to mention everything here is so insanely cheaper. So that is why I have so much "stuff". I like to be prepared and I like to bring the folks over there treats from here to try.

Could you scan and email them and then only print what you want to play at her house? What about loading them to an iPad or other tablet and using that as your music sheet? Could save you a ton of space

This was exactly what I was going to suggest. Scan them in, upload to a DropBox account, and print them onsite. Very, very easy, and free.

I am kind of picky about pillows too, but I would never in my life bring one on vacation. It just seems nuts...sorry. A bottle of ibuprofen is a lot smaller.

Hahaha I'm nuts anyway

Ibuprofen is great but it doesn't take away my neck pain. I have degenerative disc disease in my neck and my neck is straight instead of being curved so it causes me some pretty extreme pain. A good pillow is quite essential for me to be able to function...nuts or not lol

Get a "space bag" for your pillow. That is what I do with mine. I put it in the bag, seal it and roll out the air. Pillow is flat and then I can just toss it in my checked bag. Easy.

Now there's an idea. I mean, if I'm going to be heck bent on bringing it...great idea! ^