Reddit reviews Digital Luggage Scale Dunheger 110 lb FREE: Carry Bag + E-Guide + AAA Batteries

You can set up your China phone for international roaming. An alternative would be to get a simple China phone for voice calls and then a phone with Google Fi set up on it for your data needs. There's no extra charge for being overseas (data + text - with all the communications apps, you shouldn't have to call anyone anyways)

https://fi.google.com/about/rates/

Yeah. Its always going to be more expensive shipping stuff from the US but that's the price you pay for living in a first world country. When you're getting ready to move back to the states, its better that you take the stuff that you care about with you. The boxes that China Post uses are cheap and I've had them fall apart shipping between cities within China and also fall apart shipping things back to the states. And the fact that the post office people put together the boxes for you means that you can't just encase the entire box in tape.

If I were you and I had a lot of stuff to bring, I'd just bring a third suitcase. That's 30-40 lbs of additional stuff that you can bring along, which will be a lot cheaper than shipping.

Either way, you should get a portable luggage scale so you can go right up to the weight limit:

i.e.

https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Luggage-Scale-Dunheger-Guide/dp/B00OF8YQJE/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1518402559&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=luggage+scale&psc=1

VPNs - it'll depend on the vendor. Some have one for all devices, some have multiple. You'll need to do some research into that though. There's plenty of information on this subreddit. I've already left the country for good so I don't know what works anymore.

Yeah. The amount of pollution changes all the time. You should get yourself an air purifier for your home when you get there. Your lungs and your health will thank you for it.

http://www.mi.com/en/air2/

I can't tell you what to bring back - I haven't spent enough time in Italy to acquire the truly obscure - but on packing I can comment.

https://www.reddit.com/r/alcohol/comments/5zd0ub/comment/dexanri?st=J1AY6Y9C&sh=e4a2ae05

I've probably packed at least a couple bottles of booze in a suitcase a dozen, maybe 15 times now over the last 4-5 years. I've never had a bottle break despite flying to/from Poland and India, Australia, the US, South Africa, the Philippines, and a bunch of places in Europe. Multiple layovers per trip, the whole nine yards.

First, see if you can't possibly take your booze in your cabin luggage. You often can IF you purchase it in the airport and it's packed in one of those security bags with the receipt. So keep that in mind.

Second, if you want to visit a bottle shop/liquor store//whatever in-country and buy something, then...

Prep:

• Use a hard-sided suitcase. Don't even try this with a soft-sided job
  
• Keep a couple CLEAN pair of mid-length socks handy.
  
• Bring 4-6 sturdy plastic bags (24" x 18" or so, the sort you tend to get in duty-free) with you
  
• If possible, bring some bubble wrap and/or that tissue paper stuff with you
  
  Wrapping:
  
• A clean sock goes over the bottle. This is just in case it breaks so the glass doesn't go everywhere
  
• Now wrap it in that tissue paper stuff
  
• Now wrap it in one of those plastic bags
  
• Now wrap it in as many shirts as you have (or half of them if two bottles, a third if three, etc). Fold the sleeves in so there's extra material protecting your bottle. Don't worry too much about padding top and bottom of the bottle
  
• Now wrap it in your trousers
  
• Now put it in another big plastic bag
  
  Packing in the suitcase:
  
• I now usually pack it opposite of the side that has the handle bars.
  
• If I can shove in a bunch of stuff around the (now) giant plastic bags so that they won't move around, I'll do it.
  
• I will also pack the bottles against the bottom (wheels) side of the suitcase so that they aren't dropping the length of the suitcase the first time I pick it up and wheel it around
  
• Nothing hard, sharp, or heavy is near my bottles. I will often pack some shoes around/near the plastic bags ...but not my steel-toe shoes
  
  What about the extra weight???
  
• First, pack light. You should probably be about 1.7 kg (3.75 lb) under the max weight limit per bottle you think you're going to bring back
  
• If you don't have one of those luggage scales (amazon.com or amazon.co.uk) (and you really should have one) then...
  
• Know that a 1L bottle of booze weighs around 1650 gr (3.65 lb)
  
• Know that a 700 ml bottle of booze weighs around 1490 gr (3.3 lb) if it seems to have a thick glass bottom and around 1140 gr (2.5 lb) if it seems to have a thin glass bottom
  
• Know that a 500 ml bottle of booze weighs around 980 gr (2.15 lb)
  
  It's my opinion that if you follow the advice above you'll probably be ok.