taking a trunk toParis

Pack your trunk full of what you are taking to Paris. Then go to downtown charlotted and walk for a mile or two on the sidewalks towing your wheeled trunk. Get on and off busses. If Charlotte has trolleys, try that too. That should answer your question.

Airline weight restrictions?

Are you going by ship? If by air, you had best check with your airline, giving the dimensions and approx. weight to see a) if it will be accepted and b) if so, what it will cost.

Not smart. Yes, too unwieldy. Plus it probably weighs a lot even before you fill it up. Filled it could go over 50 pounds easily and possibly over 70. Over 70 is not allowed. Depending on the size, it might also add up to too many linear inches. See this from IATA: http://www.iata.org/whatwedo/passenger/baggage/Pages/check-bag.aspx. Check with your airline for their rules right away to find out a.) if you can take it at all and b.) how much extra it might cost you to take. Even if you are staying in one place the entire time in Paris, you probably won't need to take that many clothes from here and it would be way more fun to buy them there. And, you can take the minimum of lotions, potions and cosmetics because you can get them there, too. Check out the RS packing advice here. Although you could do the trip with a 22" carry on and tote of some kind, I can see that you might want to take a bit more than that and use a slightly larger bag that would have to be checked. Take a look at the Vivienne Files as a great source for wardrobe coordination in the French style. It goes back to April 2011 and is in reverse chronological order. You can search it for specifics or browse at will. You might not care for the exact colors or items she put together, but the concepts are great. And have a great time during your 90 days in Paris. (Schengen, remember.)

For a 3-month stay in one place I think this is okay if this works for you. (For a Rick Steves hit-the-highlights tour obviously not.) It will be unwieldy, but only twice, and you can pay others to wield it for you. You'll need to check around to see if this does actually work for you. Ideally you would arrange to have the trunk shipped separately and delivered to your apartment, then the reverse when you go home. Is the price for that reasonable? If you plan to take other trips while there, bring suitable bags.

I agree with Adam. I think it's fine if you're staying in one place. Kind of like summer camp! Ship it so that it will be there when you arrive. you may also be able to arrange for airport to lodging transfer if you choose to pay extra shipping and bring it on your flight. Otherwise don't even consider it...you'll be miserable dragging it around.

But now that you've bought it, isn't the question moot? How big is this monster, anyway? I've never heard of a trunk on wheels.

I lived in Paris for 3 months (90 days) last Fall and used the following luggage: one 24 inch suitcase that I checked (it was filled with mostly clothes that could be layered during Fall and early Winter), one 21 inch carryon (my laptop was in it, along with a couple of days' worth of clothes, snacks, etc.), and one 32 inch soft-sided wheeled rolling duffle bag ($15 at WalMart) which I also checked. I did have to pay extra for the 2nd checked bag but it was worth it to have everything I needed with me. I filled the duffel with some smaller kitchen items (I like to cook and wasn't sure if my apartment would have everything I like), wool blazers for Nov. wear, and lots of misc. things that I wouldn't normally take for just a week or two. The nice thing about the duffel was that I used it to store my winter-weight things until I needed them, it kept them dust free, and it stuffed easily under my bed.

I guess christina is too busy packing her wheeled travelling trunk for her Sept. 1 departure ("Please answer soon ...") to come back and comment on what everyone has said.

Thank you everyone for your advice. This is my first time on this website and I still don't know how to post answers other than private ones which I have done in some cases. I appreciate all your advice and it has been invaluable to me and very helpful although I still have not made a final decision about how to pack. Again I thank you for your advice and response to my question. Christina

Thank you for coming back, Christina.

I'm glad to see that Christina has worked out how to reply to her own thread - just click reply while signed in. When she was unable to and was only sending PMs out she shared that the size of the trunk is 12.5" x 16" x 30" . I think that the best advice was given earlier - to fill the trunk and take it for a couple of hours walk.

So it's better to reply where all can see the answers instead of PM's. Forgive me for my faux pas but I am just learning the correct way to communicate on this website. I don't agree with that particular reply, because as I said, the trunk will go from airplane to van to destination and will remain in one place for the entire 3 months. I will not be lugging a trunk around the city. But thank you for the suggestion.

Christina, You are new here so don't worry about a faux pas. There are some people who get picky and rude when a new person starts corresponding here. Don't worry about it. There have been two instances since I've begun visiting this site when a new person used a capital letters. They were new to electronic correspondence and didn't know that all capitals is considered SHOUTNG. In both instances they were made to feel badly by the self appointed site police.

Fortunately, my skin is a little thicker than that. I tend to dismiss rude people. All I am looking for on this site is the best advice for my circumstances, and I need to make that decision soon. Thank you for your kind words.

Wow! Site police....how exciting and formidable at the same time. I've almost decided to take the large suitcase and then a smaller carry-on. Then the checked bag will be free for international flights....and God knows I have spent a small fortune already just for a 3 month stay for the apartment!

You will find that a large 30" suitcase carries as much as a trunk/footlocker, but is lighter. We used to use those going off to college in the old days and way back when moving the family between France and the US we used footlockers. Later we found that a large suitcase holds the same quantity and use those when going overseas for six months or so.

Thanks for your input. I have a large suitcase that I have almost decided to use instead of the locker, but it is not as deep as the trunk, so I will bring 2 suitcases instead. My pretty new trunk that I won't be using...boo hoo!

It will be great for storing blankets, winter clothes, and some day baby clothes even if it doesn't go to Europe.

Bets, thanks for the message of consolation. My heart still flip flops back and forth about bringing it as opposed to 2 suitcases.