A final goodbye and moving madness!

Plus, how to survive flying with a toddler.

The Last Day in Atwater Village

We took Costa and Paolo back to the house the day before our flight for one final goodbye. It was hard but also essential to have those few hours together at home, taking in the last moments of a place that has meant so much to us. We also wanted to ensure the boys had closure, as they have been bouncing all over the place these last few months. Sitting under the giant avocado tree on our front deck, we ate Tacos Villa Corona burritos and Dune fries, reminiscing about our time in this house and expressing how sad we were to see this chapter close. We laughed and cried, held each other tight, and walked through each room, saying goodbye and thank you to our home for taking such good care of us. It's surreal to have such a significant chapter of your life close, especially one that involved so many early memories with your kids. It was bittersweet and beautiful and a moment we will never forget.

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Moving Madness

Moving your entire life overseas is highly complicated. After getting costly shipping quotes from several companies and wondering if our furniture would fit in our new apartment, we decided to slim down and only bring the things that truly mattered to us. We sold all of our furniture, cars, appliances that wouldn't work in Italy and tons of little things we had accumulated over the years. (It was wild to see how much stuff we had that we never used!) We decided to take the items we genuinely care about, like all the beautiful Heath ceramics we got for our wedding, our artwork, Andre's record collection, our pots and pans, and kitchen tools we have built up over the years to create ease in our everyday cooking. The things that would make our new apartment feel like a home. We hired an Italian-based international shipping company called Fercam to make the shipping as seamless as possible. Customs in Italy is very nuanced and can be pretty complicated. Hiring a company with a great deal of experience dealing with shipping to and from Italy has been helpful in understanding the process. Hopefully, it will aid in all of our belongings arriving promptly. Fingers crossed! When the moving company came to the house, they had to pack all of our belongings themselves (something very new to me with moving) for customs reasons. You can't pack your belongings yourself. If you do, they must open the box, look at everything, and then repack. So, advice to anyone else who decides to make a big move like this: have your belongings organized, but let the movers do the actual packing. They were swift, organized, and efficient, and our entire house was packed in 8 hours. Then, all our belongings headed out to be placed in a container and then on a boat to arrive at some point in the next 1 1/2 - 3 months.

Because our belongings might take months to arrive and there are actual seasons in Turin (Torino), we decided to bring most of our clothing for fall and winter and anything else we might need right away on the plane. Andre is an incredible packer who spent so much time researching the best way to tackle this endeavor. Here is a breakdown of how we pulled off bringing this much stuff on a plane!

• Patagonia Black Hole Duffels: Most of our bags were these in various sizes, some rollers, others just the duffles. We knew we had to bring a lot of stuff on the plane and wanted durable luggage, which would only take up a little room once we arrived. We checked all our Black Hole duffels except one carry-on roller that Paolo was supposed to roll. We quickly learned this was too much for him at the airport and would have been more appropriate for a slightly older child like Costa. But regardless, it was an excellent carry-on for all the kids. Also, these packing cubes made organizing all the kids in one suitcase super easy. Andre likes to use the smallest cubes to organize stuff like wires, batteries, chargers, adapters, etcetera.

• Rimowa: These suitcases are crazy expensive, but Andre is obsessed with them, and they are a dream to use. They also have a lifetime warranty and can be completely repaired top to bottom for free in most cases and a minimal fee if all dents are needed to be smoothed out, or if the bags need to be realigned. They even will come to your hotel to do minor fixes in many countries. The bags are so easy to roll; even Costa was able to help with the large one. We put more delicate and breakable items in these bags to give them extra protection. Definitely a big investment but might be worth it if you are someone who travels all the time. The cases he likes are the Cabin Plus for carry-on and the Trunk Plus for checked. Note the Cabin Plus might not fit in many inter Europe overheads, but can be gate checked.

• Muji Hard Shell Suitcase: Our other suitcase for delicate items was from Muji. It worked great, was easy to use, and was much more affordable than the Rimowa. They come in various sizes and colors. It was for things that could be damaged, but items that were not as delicate as what we put in the Rimowa.

• Camera Bag: Andre brought all his cameras and lenses in this carry-on bag on the plane. He also was sharp enough to get the international version so as to not have it checked when we took our inter Europe flight to Milan from Paris. International specs for carry-on baggage are smaller than US carriers and he also wanted to be able to travel in Europe with the camera bag as well.

• Besides all the suitcases, we also checked our car seat, booster seat, and portable crib. All kid items like these are no charge to check, so you only need to consider the cost for extra baggage.

• Luggage Tags and Apple Air Tags in these leather cases on everything that we checked at the airport to help reduce the stress of losing a bag.

We checked a total of 12 bags, and a few of our carry-ons for the 2nd leg of travel. And, outside of Bruno, each of us had one carry-on and one personal item. We also had a snack bag. It was a lot to manage as we got stuck carrying everything for Paolo, so in hindsight, I would bring less that the little kids have to be responsible for because one of us will inevitably get stuck with it as well.

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How to Survive Flying with a Toddler

While Costa and Paolo are great travelers now that they are older (as long as they have an iPad and snacks, they are good to go for a very long time), I was terrified to fly with Bruno. After our 2-hour flights back and forth from Oregon this summer, I quickly realized getting him to stay still or sleep would be a major challenge, especially for the length of an international flight. Bruno, who turns two years old in October, isn't interested in an iPad for long periods, so I knew I would need some tricks to keep him occupied and in a good mood for our flights.

I bought a hanging toiletry case and filled it with various small activities I could bring out slowly over our travels, essentially making a little Entertainment Kit for Bruno. I always kept him from having the entire case; I would bring a new toy or activity out when I saw him losing interest or getting frustrated. My dear friend, Shannon, gave me many things that her kids loved when traveling, and I found a few other things while researching on TikTok. Here is what I brought:

• Hanging Clear Toiletry Bag - I liked having a clear one so I could easily see where everything was. This one was a great size and fit nicely in my diaper bag for easy access.

• Melissa & Doug On the Go Water Wow! Reusable Activity Pad - Bruno had never used one before and loved seeing the water magically make a picture appear.

• Puffy Sticker Sets - Puffy removable stickers are so great for a plane! Just find ones that are the theme of whatever your child is interested in at the moment. Bruno is all about cars and trucks and played with these for hours.

• Play Cell Phone - This one was easy for Bruno to play with, the sound was relatively quiet, and it was very thin barely taking up any room in the case.

• Pop It Pro Light Up Game - I recommend removing the batteries! I could not turn the sound off on ours, which drove me crazy. 

• Play-Doh Starter Set - I removed all the Play-Doh containers and tools from the plastic starter kit bag they came in and placed them in the toiletry bag.

• LeapFrog Chat and Count - I also got this one for Bruno, which he loves. The kids played games of pretending to call each other. 

• Toy Cars - Bruno is obsessed with cars and trucks, as I mentioned, so I brought two of his small favorites and put them in the toiletry bag.

• Small Toys - I also brought a few small toys Bruno likes, like a Hulk action figure and a small squishy ball.

• Crayola Mess Free Coloring Book - a great activity that doesn't make any mess, so you don't have to stress! It doesn't fit in the toiletry bag, but I had Costa carry it in his backpack.

• Stackable Snack Containers - I got this one for Bruno and this one for the older boys. These were great for keeping Bruno engaged with his food, and he also loved taking them apart, stacking them, and moving snacks from one container to the next. It kept him busy for a while.

• And, we did get a small iPad for Bruno that he used here and there during the flight. This is the case and these are the headphones we got for him.

Besides that, bring snacks and a lot of calm energy and patience. I kept repeating to myself in moments of stress and exhaustion, "Don't worry, this won't last forever." And, I am happy to report… we survived!!!!

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