Hi Anne.......

Welcome to TE!

I have a Fuji Silhouette. I've only shipped it once, for a week-long bike tour where I wanted my own bike rather than a rental. Frankly, I wish I hadn't bothered. Although it was nice to be on my own familiar steed, the hassle of taking it apart, packing the bike, shipping it, and reassembling it two times wasn't especially worth the effort or expense. And the tour company I was using (WomanTours) would have been able to fit one of their own bikes to me for less hassle.

But that's just my experience!

Are you going someplace where you might be able to rent a bike? I've done that now a couple of times on business trips where I was flying rather than driving to my destination. Many local bike shops have rental bikes on hand. It seems to be pretty easy to nab a rental, even at the last minute...although the trade-off is that you might not be able to get a bike that "fits" you to a T. If you're just planning to cruise around and enjoy the scenery wherever you're going, however, it might not be critical to have a bike set-up that is ideal.

Whatever you decide, good luck and have fun!