A mum has defended herself after being slammed for taking 18 suitcases of luggage with her on holiday.
Australian musician Joanne Hadkia - who is also known as Joey Dija - shared a viral video on TikTok about her recent trip to the US with her husband Omar and their young twins, daughters Ava and Aya.
The 32-year-old mum (@joeydjia) was flying from Sydney to San Francisco, and documented how she and her husband travelled across the world with their eight-month-old twins in a now-viral clip which has since racked up nearly 2 million views.
The clip, which serves as a short vlog, shows the family waking up at 5:30am to catch their flight. Joey films all her carry-on suitcase and bags, explaining that she ‘needs the space’.
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Initially, Joey wanted the family to have matching luggage but this didn’t happen in the end.
“And it may not look like it but I barely bought anything for myself - this is just all car seats and prams and cots,” Joey reveals in the video’s voiceover.
She later confessed to having ‘no idea’ how she and her husband will handle all the luggage without the help of her parents once they get to the US.
Viewers had a lot to say in the comments, with lots of people stating that the couple should’ve considered buying or renting the baby stuff they needed in America.
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“Cheaper to buy new on the other side,” one person wrote.
Another TikToker commented: “Just rent it here guys… no need for all the stress.”
Joey recalled seeing some angrier comments, too, which she has now responded to.
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“It’s incredible how bothered people were with our luggage,” the mum-of-two told news.com.au.
“I get that by looking at it, it might seem excessive. But I was honestly shocked at people’s comments.
“It is like they were paying for our flights and being asked to push around our luggage.
“I would never be irritated by someone doing something for themselves that didn’t harm anyone or anything, especially when it didn’t inconvenience me at all.
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“Everyone online was telling me what I should have done instead. The airline had no issue with our luggage and neither did we.
“As a family of four, we were allowed 14 pieces free with our tickets, as each baby was allowed a pram, a baby bag each and two pieces of baby luggage.
“Omar and I were allowed the standard carry on bags and personal items and a suitcase each.”
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Joey revealed in the comments under her video that she paid $300AUD (£154) for the extra luggage.
“The third was for my husband’s golf clubs and the fourth was a huge load of my trusted organic Australian baby formula that you cannot get in the USA. The bulk of what we took was for the girls.”
In response to the people saying they should have ‘bought everything new’, Joey said this would have been wasteful.
“That would have easily cost me over $4,000 (£2,047). Why on earth would I do that?
“And as far as renting the items, this would have cost us over $8,000 ($4,093).
“We had no problems with the bags and were unpacked within an hour once we got into San Francisco.
“People online kept comparing and saying that they moved countries with far less, but everyone’s situation is different.
“I think people don’t like seeing others doing things that they can’t.”
Gregory Robinson