There was a time when Kinga and I regularly packed all the belongings we thought we’d need for an entire week or more into bike panniers and still be convinced we’d taken too much. For the trip to Budapest, we even took (I’m embarrassed to admit it) three cameras. Oh, and a tripod.

For this weekend’s trip to the Outer Banks, we’ve almost filled our new car’s trunk — Jetta turbo diesel (40 mpg average!) — and we haven’t even finished packing yet!