My Sister's Suitcase

My sister is coming at the end of the month. Sis is notorious for packing light. Largely, this is because she hates carrying heavy suitcases. Also, she lives in Brooklyn, and when you live someplace where you usually take the subway to and from the airport, it does, indeed, make sense to travel with carry-on only. However, when she said she was looking into tickets to come to Bali, I was already on Amazon shuffling my wish list over to my cart and giving Amazon her mailing address. It was then that I said, “Alright, enough of this carry-on nonsense. You get 50 pounds and we’re going to use it.” She said that Bryan, whom she is dating would also be coming. Fabulous. Make that a 100 pounds of luggage for our purposes. Because really, when you visit the tropics, what do you need besides sunscreen, shorts and a swimsuit? By the time she had booked her ticket, I had sent her the following list:

1 bottle of gin

1 bottle of dry vermouth

(you can legally bring in one bottle of liquor and one bottle of wine. Vermouth, lucky for us martini drinkers, counts as wine.)

(But maybe we should have them skip the gin and bring two vermouths, because oddly, gin is not that much more expensive in Bali, but vermouth is literally ten times the cost.)

(Kent then says to skip the gin and bring one dry vermouth and one sweet vermouth for the purpose of Manhattans. I fail to relay this message to Sis because I do actually want the bottle of gin. Sis would bring good gin whereas in Bali, we get the equivalent of Gordon's. But then, I come from a family of gin drinkers, where our liquor cabinets generally house a variety of gins, and one bottle of whiskey.)

(After 3 weeks of solid rain, I do think Kent is now right, that a Manhattan would be good. We tell Sis, one dry vermouth, one sweet. If the suitcase is too full, skip the gin.)

15 bottles of my favorite titanium dioxide sunscreen (from Badger) that I have already ordered

All natural mosquito repellent that does not feel like Aqua Net hairspray when you apply it

All the New Yorkers in my sister’s possession

Bottle of B1 vitamins because supposedly they help to prevent mosquito bites

A bottle of tea tree oil, (the all natural cure for mosquito bite itching)

(Maybe instead of skipping the gin entirely, I should have Sis decant it into 4 oz bottles that she can stick in her carry-on. This way, I get the gin and she can dip into it if the 22 hour flight gets a little tedious. Hmmm….will run this past Sis.)

(But it is one thing to take over your sister’s suitcase, and quite another to take over the suitcase of the man coming with her solely for the sake of vermouth. Is it a bit presumptuous? Oh, but this is the man who drove me to the Beth Israel Emergency Room when I needed stitches after falling on my face after a bit too much gin. Better not request any liquor go into his suitcase lest he think I’m a total alcoholic. Damn.)

4 bottles of my multi-vitamins

3 tubes of Tom’s of Maine gel toothpaste

4 Secret powder fresh deodorant (does it make sense that in the hottest places on the planet you can’t get decent deodorant?)

A gallon of half and half (why is half and half an American only phenomenon?)(Oh, if there was only a way to get it here!)

Crunchy peanut butter (this one is extra credit)

Sis sent word that our Amazon order totaling hundreds of dollars had arrived. Kent ordered other boxes of technological things and had them delivered to her as well. My grandmother called Sis and told her that she was sending The History of Saffron and other Spices to bring to me so that when I go to the market, I know the difference between Indonesian and Asian saffron. This is what happens when you live overseas, and a member of your family visits: that family member then becomes family ambassador and everyone else sends gifts for the toddler, and things they’ve been wanting to get to you.

When I skype with my sister, she shows me the accumulating pile of books, sunscreen, toothpaste and other random Trader Joe’s items. I have no idea how she’s going to get it all into her suitcase or if she’ll be able to meet the weight requirement set by the TSA.

Kent then started planning our time with Sis here. Sis and Bryan do want some time in Ubud, but also some beach time. As Sis says, she wants to wake up and walk out to the beach. An understandable request, given that she lives in Brooklyn, works in Manhattan, and has been reading the book Slow Love by Dominique Browning (that I ordered and had delivered to her address).

After Kent researched all the beaches within a day's distance, he recommends a few days at the Gili Islands. We’ll take a ferry over, he says.

He then pokes his head around the corner to where I am writing, “Hey, Sis and Bryan are packing light, right?”

“Um, no.” I say.

“Oh wait.” He says, “They’re bringing a bunch of our stuff.”

“Yes.” I say. “They’re actually bringing everything we are reading this summer.”

“We asked them to do that, right?”

“Yep.”

“Huh.” He says.

“Why?”

“Well, we can take a ferry to the Gili Islands, but while there’s a ferry, there isn’t actually a ferry terminal. So, we’re going to have to roll our rolling suitcases up the beach. Or pay a local a dollar to do it. Or put everything in a backpack.”

We start brainstorming what to do with their (our) luggage.

Gin? My entire Amazon reading list? A year’s worth of New Yorkers? Sis’s suitcase is the Holy Grail of my existence at the moment. I’m unwilling to sacrifice any of its contents. But still rolling fifty to a hundred pounds of luggage up a sandy beach?

I’ll pay the dollar.