going away at Christmas

[doobydo]

Just found out we are now going to in laws for christmas, abroad. should be good fun but I now have to complete christmas shopping for presents based on what I can carry . so any ideas? can you wrap presents if they are in a suitcase in checked in bags? also we want to take some fresh food on the short flight. can you take ice blocks on flights?

Could you buy heaps of gift bags and tissue paper so you could quickly wrap everything once you got there?
Make sure you are well insured. I don't want to worry you but my friends suitcases went missing coming home last year and all the brand new stuff vanished with them. Her insurance didn't cover that level of loot. Good insurance would bring some peace of mind.
You could also maybe buy on Amazon and have it sent to the people you will be staying with. Amazon will wrap etc if you send it as gifts.

I wrapped all our gifts last year in anticipation of spending Christmas in French Alps. Unfortunately our flight was cancelled at the last minute due to snow (ironic considering we were flying to a very snowy Geneva and were due to spend the week skiing!) so we ended up travelling on Boxing Day by which time obvs the DCs had opened gifts. My FiLs gifts however remained wrapped and we packed those in our case without any issues. It might be prudent to check with the airline though.

No idea about the ice blocks. Again, check with airline.