Thanks RonDon for the insights. I will share this with my wife. That's amazing you can fit all that stuff in two small travel suitcases! The obvious key is having an affordable laundry room at your disposal, but when were on vacation my wife takes a firm stand against doing laundry! On our last trip to SXM we did take one small suitcase (mine) for the overhead bin, but once again the suitcase we call 'Big Red' came with us packed to the brim at a lofty 48 pounds. Cost us $30 to check each way, but if the airlines start to jack around with these costs (for checked package in the future) we may me following your example.