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Here are my favorite tips, but take it or leave it depending on what makes sense for you: I agree with Lucy about choosing flight practicality/quality over the lowest possible price, especially if traveling with a baby - if you get stuck or massively delayed, you may end up spending on food/lodging I use Going.com and Google flights to find deals on flights Now is a good window since you don't have to pay for an extra seat for the baby, although 14 straight hours with a baby on your lap is a LOT. Not sure if this applies in your case but being able to breastfeed was a major bonus (I used a sling/wrap for privacy) for keeping a baby happy and quiet on a flight. Also, it's free! Pack your own snacks, fruit, sandwiches for travel days b/c airport food is expensive! To the extent you can with a baby, pack light and/or travel with a carry-on only. Airlines charge a lot for checking baggage now. There are a lot of videos on YouTube with good tips for packing carry-on only for overseas flights. I went to Europe last year with only this tote because I packed super carefully: https://the-foldie.com/products/the-foldie-4-0?variant=43022294810844 Since you have a baby, you should still be able to bring and check stroller, carseat etc. for free - check airline policies. Carseat bags make it WAY easier to bring a carseat to your destination, if you use one, and save on the high cost of renting one at your destination (if you plan on riding in a car). Look into staying at Airbnbs or similar vacation rentals at your destination. It is sometimes cheaper per night than a hotel, and if it has a kitchen you can save a lot and even try local foods by buying simple items local markets and bakeries to eat for breakfast, snacks, etc. In the states where portions are larger, if you have leftovers from eating out, it's nice to be able to refrigerate them and heat them up later, especially with a baby when you might need to crash and eat at "home" instead of going out to dinner. Having access to a washer and dryer is also helpful if you pack light to be able to wash clothes once during your trip. Especially because, as you know, babies aren't always good at keeping clothes clean. Alternately, I found a nice and inexpensive hotel in Barcelona that had a kitchenette, so maybe look for something like that. I was able to get a small load of clothes washed and folded at a nearby laundromat for $10, which is still cheaper than checking baggage! Maybe this sounds obvious, but cost check/compare accommodations based on proximity to where you want to spend most of your time and not just price per night. If a hotel or airbnb is the cheapest but far away from places you want to visit, you can lose money and time on transportation Use public transportation instead of taxis or expensive tours Search the heck out of ideas for "visit [your destination] on a budget" or "free attractions at [destination]" Check out the city's travel/tourist passes that offer discounts on local attractions plus public transportation. They might be a good value, depending on how long you are staying and what you want to do. I'm a fan of looking for beautiful public parks and historic libraries, which are often free to visit.

I was thinking the same thing and laughed out loud at this. File under “Things That Are Only Funny If You Spend Too Much Time on JWTalk”

None of the changes are intended to encourage or result in casual dress; the announcement specifically said that the choices available to everyone should not be casual, but dignified. Also, it's easy enough to keep a couple of ties and jackets in the kingdom hall, just like a lot of halls keep scarves or hats on hand in case sisters need them.

Maybe even if we choose to stick with dressier clothes, this is an area that will make studies, RVs, inactive ones and others more comfortable attending the Memorial. A friend of mine who used to be a coworker, who was raised a Witness but has been inactive for many years, texted me very happy to hear sisters can now wear pants. She said she was stressing for days about having to tell her (active) mom that she would have to wear pants for the memorial because none of her skirts or dresses fit anymore. She was going to wait until the day before to tell her. But now when I said, “It’s great you’re going, don’t stress too much about what to wear,” she could actually believe me 😊

Very cute and practical, sis! I like your scarf. The wind factor makes skirts tricky sometimes. As my mom said, “I bet Jesus never said, ‘I can’t go out in service because I don’t have the blue schmatte (Yiddish for loose, hanging piece of clothing) with me’”

Nice one, Richard! 🔥 😂

Big changes take time, people are just concerned about doing the right thing, and I am NOT IN ANY WAY comparing those who are just trying to be conscientious to Pharisees or that anyone is "full of plunder and wickedness." But the announcement from the Governing Body was very simple. Jesus set the perfect example in emphasizing what is most important and what principles we should focus on. From The Greatest Man Who Ever Lived, "Dining With a Pharisee" Out of curiosity I looked at some pictures from the Greatest Man book. We are living in different times, but it's interesting to note who looks more formal vs who looks nice, dignified, and approachable while teaching and preaching, and whether they look way more formal than those they meet in the ministry.

There were 5 sisters wearing pants at my meeting (Special Talk) today, myself included. Sisters wore pants in service yesterday. One brother wearing no tie, a few with no jackets. I saw a brother from the Spanish congregation who attends after us wearing a guayabera, his wife wearing a pretty pants suit. Everyone looked appropriate and nice. I was super happy to say “hi, it’s good to see you” to two younger sisters who had been disfellowshipped. I feel like we’re being helped to focus on what’s most important and get closer to how Jehovah wants his people to be.

I wasn't alive yet in the early 70s but it felt like a huge deal when they discontinued the separate weekly congregation bible study in people's homes and made it part of one single midweek meeting, and started encouraging us to do family worship. And had us stop asking for money "to cover the cost of printing and publishing" when placing magazines and publications. And discontinued magazine subscriptions, and drastically abbreviated the magazines. And then when they announced the revised version of the NWT and the new JW Library app in 2013. And started JW Broadcasting. And shortened the circuit assemblies to one day...all these changes have had big positive effects! (Although I do really miss the congregation Bible study in people's homes, but 3 separate meeting times a week was tough then and would have been nearly impossible now.)

Ditto and ditto (the crying and my conscience allowing me to just acknowledge people)

Do you seriously have 54 ties???

SO love the much-needed adjustments about dealing with serious wrongdoing and how the elders will show mercy and help people. The part about greeting disfellowshipped people at the meetings made me bawl. Just in time for the Memorial. And we have young people in our hall attending meetings who are disfellowshipped and they are dear to me, and it hurt my heart not to be able to greet them. And I was also thinking about family members who may be more likely to go to the Memorial this year because of this. ETA: And I already know what dress pants I'm going to wear in service tomorrow 😆

Thank you for saying this, it just made me very, very emotional, because this is what I experienced growing up from my dad who was in the truth. It is exactly how I've always felt, but it's so hard to explain to anyone who hasn't been through that. My siblings had worse trauma than I did, and they both left the truth. My brother is agnostic. My dad used the truth as a weapon and made it traumatizing for them. @Lori, only Jehovah can see what's in your daughter's heart, and he sees the whole depth and breadth of her experience and how it has affected her. Your example and your love and support are the best way you can teach her about Jehovah. Take it one day at a time. If we worry about the specifics of the Great Tribulation, we will make ourselves crazy.

NO @Ishaya!! You already have a mate, why are you up in this topic! 😂 😂

That’s what happens when any random person can get access to a serious weapon that can take out so many people at once…and then those crimes keep getting massive news coverage and replicating like memes. WNTK* *We Need the Kingdom