Airline tickets

We purchased our airline tickets in September and it somehow made the upcoming trip suddenly seem more real. We are scheduled to depart on Jan 19, flying Wichita > Chicago > Copenhagen > Warsaw. From Warsaw we'll take a train to Lublin. We've had a lot of discussions about what to pack in suitcases and what to ship in advance. Factors shaping our thoughts: If we bring it, we'll be sure to have it (it won't get lost, damaged, etc.); If we bring it, we'll have to lug it around with us until we get 'home' (wherever that might be). If we bring it, we don't have to pay the cost of shipping (approx $1/lb). If we want to take it home again, we have to carry it back, or ship it (more costly from Poland to the US than from the US to Poland). We are making a lot of decisions about 'needs' and 'wants'. I'm all for reducing the number of unnecessary consumer items that I depend on, but there are certain comforts that I'd really like to have along (my special foam pillow comes to mind). In the meantime, I keep gathering things in a box in my room that we want to have (in our suitcase or shipped by boat)...We'll see what the final pile looks like in the next month and make some decisions. -Carolyn

PS Our Visas arrived in the mail right on time - mid-October as promised.