Suitcase recommendations for long haul

DullGreyGuy

youth_leader said:

How nice of you Skiddaw1, thank you, it will be my last long haul.  It was between Japan and NZ.   I can only go because my beloved cat and dog have died - I miss them terribly but am determined to travel now.  My oldest friend is coming too, but as a solo trip, we are free to be as independent of each other as we wish. 

Last? My gran said that from the age of 70 to 93 

It was a running family joke when my gran said everyone had to come as she wouldnt be fit to travel again for the 22nd time!

youth_leader

What a nice thought DullGreyGuy.  My grandmother flew to the US for the last time at the age of 92.  She'd gone to NY on a boat at the age of 19 in 1927, unfortunately when I went I couldn't look her up on Staten Island as I didn't know her maiden name then.  As she was Irish, I've just sorted out all the paperwork I need to apply for Foreign Birth Registration so I can apply for an Irish passport and travel easily within the EU.  Paying for that next pension - it's 278 euros. 

DullGreyGuy

Mine equally was Irish and I got my passport about 12 years ago for a related issue. 

I knew her maiden name and knew that her "legal" dob was different to the date she'd always celebrated but had no idea what her dob was on her passport or such. Thankfully the office in Ireland were very understanding saying it was common at the time... without a doctors letter for the birth you got registered as the date you turned up rather than the date you claimed to have given birth... and managed to find the certificate easily.

Amusingly for me I was told my adoption had been entered into the equivalent registry but the certificate would take a while to turn up but that I could apply for the passport now and just explain the situation if asked and they tell them to phone the department to confirm if needs be. In reality no one asked me for anything other than the affidavit until after they'd registered me and printed a passport, was only when I went to collect the passport they asked if I wouldnt mind providing birth/marriage certs etc. 

youth_leader

Fantastic - it's a two year wait now for the Foreign Birth Registration to process. After much searching for a witness from the list, my dentist has agreed to witness it all for me before I send it off.

It took me a year to find my grandmother's information as her name was different in various places, the mysterious T for her middle name only appeared once as Theresa on her marriage certificate in 1931 - it wasn't on her birth certificate.