Family Travel Series Part 6

This will be the final post in my Family Travel series. After this I will start a new topic.
As I write this, I am taking a little break from my own vacation preparation. It's getting down to the last wire and in a couple of days we hope to be on a flight to Europe, marking a milestone for our oldest daughter's high school graduation. I always get more excited when a special event in one of my children's life has a trip connected to it, even if is a short one, like the overnight mother-daughter/father-son trips we took on 16th and 13th birthdays.
It seems that so much of taking a trip is getting ready to go! Right now I am in the middle of cleaning house so when I come home all I will have to think about is unpacking and washing my clothes. Perhaps coming home to a house that has just been spring cleaned will also allow me time to rest after my trip. We are all mostly packed. I'll probably do a final load of laundry the day we are ready to leave, just to have a extra things I planned to pack but already wore!
We are packing VERY light- between the 5 of us we have 3 overnight shoulder bags and 2 pull style carry on bags, and this is for a 3 week vacation! I hate checking baggage, even before airlines started charging for it. This is because I have had my bag lost or late one too many times, so we have become in the habit of doing with as little as we can. The funny thing about vacations is that I tend to feel more comfortable with rotating a few choices of mix and match outfits than having a big suitcase full of clothing I never end up wearing.
Besides packing the basics of clothing, it seems like electrical/electronic supplies take up more room now than they ever have in the past. I now have the laptop, the laptop charger, the cell phone, the cell phone charger, a gps and charger, my ipod and charger, a set of walkie talkies with chargers (since I don't expect that I will be able to use my cell phone in Europe and had a good experience using walkie talkies in Disney World), and finally the digital camera, charger and usb cable. I think this is what we need the larger carry-on bag with wheels.
My concerned oldest son asked me if we had a safety plan. I guess when you go to another country, it is a good idea to plan for the unexpected. This is another part of why we have the walkie talkies. Some other preparations we made- each of us have copies of each other's passports, and copies left with a family member at home. Of course we had the big talk with the kids on the dangers of wandering in a place that if you get lost no one knows English so you can't ask where mommy is. We also have a notebook with all of our back up lists of contact numbers, confirmation numbers, and other important things like where to eat and what to buy. Back on the home front we have our son house-sitting, taking care of our mail, watering our lawn and plants, and keeping our house lived in to keep away robbers.
Friends who have travelled abroad have also given me some good safety tips, which I thought were very helpful, especially in the case where we will have a car rental for part of our trip. Pack a black sheet to cover anything visible and tempting for cars to be broken into. If you have to go into your trunk, do so in a different place from where you plan to park your car- take out what you need then go and find a place to park. Beware of fake parking attendants collecting money in lots, and use a designated parking garage whenever possible. Beware of pickpockets and opening up your wallet or bag for beggars. Opening your wallet to beggars could put you in the position of being swarmed by more beggars and then pick-pocketed.
I am sure when we travel, American Tourists will be written all over us, but even so I don't want to look like the easy target American tourist, who is unwise and unaware.
Well I hope this travel series has been helpful. If there is any other specific insights I can offer about family travel I'd be happy to hear some ideas on topics.