The San Francisco International Airport and the Plane to Zurich

January 25th dawned with me anxiously throwing any items I had forgotten to pack into my giant, black purse. I had been told that purses (aka "personal items) didn't have any kind of weight limit, only a size one. It was rather bulgy as I swung it across my shoulder to walk out the door and I prayed that it would still be able to fit under the seat. 
Since I was riding with a friend to the airport I said a tearful farewell to my family on our front lawn. It was with a sinking feeling that I got into the car, knowing that I would not be able to hug them again for three months. 
I had never been to the San Francisco airport before and it was pretty big. I also found, as I walked through the parking garage and through the airport to check my bags, that my large suitcase didn't like to roll. It is an old, flowered thing that holds all my stuff quite nicely but it likes to fall over when I try to roll it. I had to pull it like a dog on a leash and it kept tipping over if I tried to pick up my pace at all. 
After checking my suitcase in (and apparently there IS a weight limit on purses) my friend and I made it through security pretty easily. Then we met up with some other AIFS students and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant. 
It was around 6:45pm when we finally got to board the plane. I sighed with relief as I stuffed my over sized purse under the seat in front of me without much drama. As I sat down I surveyed the seats around me at people that might be fellow students in the study abroad program. If any of them were, then they were mostly young women with only a few dudes sprinkled in. I sighed, tried to make the really constricting seat a little more comfortable, and prepared myself for the longest plane ride of my life (so far). 

Why Does My Laptop Have to Weigh So Much? And Other Stresses of Packing

So, about four months ago I decided I was going to study abroad with my college in Florence, Italy. It was kind of a quick decision because registration was starting soon and I needed to get a passport. I was in denial for a long time though until I paid the program fee and realized that it was really going to happen. After I paid the fees I had to tell my violin students that I was leaving for three months and that my sister would substitute for me. The only barriers left between me and my new Tuscan residence was the trip there.  Packing my suitcase, carry on, and purse was extremely stressful. How many shirts should I bring? How much shampoo is really necessary? Are these shoes comfortable enough to walk for hours in? Is hair dye considered a dangerous item? Yep, that was pretty much all I could think about. Along with the ever-dramatic classic: OMG I CAN'T FIND MY CAMERA USB ANYWHERE!! Just let me die now!!!
It probably didn't help my worrying when my laptop got a nasty virus about a week before I was leaving and I didn't know where to go to get it fixed. 
Then there are the weight and size regulations for baggage...yeah I think that one almost gave me an ulcer. I inwardly freaked out every time I had to add something more to one of my suitcases after I had already weighed it and found it to be acceptable will this be the hairbrush that sends the weight shooting up the scale? 
Once I decided my bags carried all the essentials and were an acceptable weight there came the next big question: can I carry all of my bags at once? I could carry them from the bedroom to the living room but could I carry them around an airport and up apartment stairs? Believe me, that was something I was about to find out....