New travel strategy works

This year I vowed that I would restrict what I take in my luggage.  To help me achieve this, I made a list of the items I could take- 2 of this 3 of that, essential items and number of each, etc,  I've pretty much stuck to my list and have a achived about a 30 lb bag to deal with.  Success and less hauling of a huge weight through the EU!!!

I also bought a new rolling duffel bag with a drop bottom that runs the full length of the bag and the top has two compartments for easy separation of specific items.  The bag is 30" long and 14" wide- the 14" wide was important since I knew that the EU train aisles are a bear with wide luggage. 

The nylon/synthetic cover helps to compress items that make it managable and quite cozy so far.  The 5 year guarantee is a plus and but I will still will take my duct tape with me just in case!

Next, will be the rolling backpack for my carry on- just about perfect as a carry on and multi-tasker for travel.  The countdown continues!

mdt

Oh Our Bags Are Packed, We're Ready To Go...

Will consult resident techie about getting wav files on the blog, but for now, this is the song we are singing.

Marcia has bested me at low weight with a 13.5 kilo big bag (that would be 10 lbs less than mine). Of course, this is only clothes and toiletries and shoes. I'm lugging my breakfast from May-July and our picnic supplies and stuff you don't even want to know about. Still, she wins the weight battle and has a nifty little orange duffle type bag that a baby could lift to a high shelf.

We have a week to go before takeoff. My strategy is to leave my suitcases zipped shut and ignore them for a week. That being said, I am wondering if I remembered to put the lens cleaners in the backpack. Packing neurosis. Perhaps I will sneak them in Marcia's bag.

Next week there are two trips to Gainesville for various appointments-dental, massage, accupuncture, etc. There are three more aquasize classes and there could be more if I wish or find myself waking up at some ungoddessly early hour. The shades have new batteries, ditto the smoke dectectors. We have been eating the most fabulous things out of the freezer in an effort to clear out some room. Last night there were steaks on the grille which have turned into fajitas for lunch and a salad panzenelle for dinner. Works for me!

My brother, Danny is making reservations for us at a lovely restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale. He swears that Marcia's Christmas dinner white truffel risotto has ruined him for any other risotto, but he is willing to step down for something less at Blue Moon if need be. He's such a good sport.

All that remains is keeping busy till takeoff time. My strategy today was to go to the ceramics shop and work on glazing a birdhouse. I recommend it for stress reduction. Just dab and daub various colors of glaze here and there and all else goes away. Tra-la.

I came home, walked in the Cronemobile Cathedral and just a few feet over my head hawk went flying by. I take this as a good omen.

KG

T minus 13-15

My suitcases and stuff are spread out all over the bedroom table. My packing method includes packing everything I need for every contingency I can think of, then taking out about half of what I have put in. Every year I imagine that I will finally have this down and won't need to go through this ritual, but it seems to never change. This year's big heavy item(s) are my morning shake mixes. Last year I took my travel shake shaker and just a handfull of mix in zip lock bags. Once there I hunted for soy protein chocolate mix with varrying results and once ended up with Ovaltine. The taste buds remember these things. I currently have the plastic cannisters of shake mix double wrapped in zip locks, but I am thinking of just pouring them out in the ziplock for ease in packing and space efficiency. Surely no one would think that they are cocaine???? I was thinking that it would be easier this year as our first mode of transportation is a cruise ship. However, to get to the cruise ship in Ft. Lauderdale, we take a flight from Tampa, so there you have the flight thing again. Plan A was to put my backpack in the carry on for flight, but after I get my meds and computer and camera and their assorted electronic acessories packed, there is no room for the backpack. American flights tend to allow people one carry on and a purse or backpack. European flights will charge for the carry on if you have a backpack. We shall see what happens when we get to our first flight from Barcelona to Paris. One also never knows when American companies will change the policies either. After all, we are flying Cheapo Air. Getting the supply of meds is always a challenge. AV-Med, my less than esteemed medical insurer will allow me to have a 3 month supply and no more. Luckily I have friends from here joining me over there in July, so I might just manage to get the fourth month. I am so looking forward to turning Medicare age and ditching Av-Med. Knock wood there is a Medicare and I'll be able to do it. I now have my three months meds supply and will soon begin the task of sorting them into daily packets in tiny ziplock bags. Little Western medicine, little Eastern medicine, few suppliments-voila. Shoes take up space. Generally I wear my hiking shoes on the plane as it is often cold and this leaves room in my suitcase and a sturdy pair of shoes is an asset in cramped space. My second pair of shoes are Keen H2O sandals, and the third pair are Crocks that serve as slippers and pool shoes and could, if needed or desperate, serve as street shoes. Since we are flying in to Ft Lauderdale on the last day of April, I hardly want to be in hiking shoes. So, the hiking shoes have dutifully swallowed their socks and take up space in the suitcase. It remains to be seen whether the little lonely planet city books will remain in the suitcase. Last year, you may recall, I went totally electronic with the travel guides. This is great when used as reference on the big screen computer. Not so much for on the go. I suspect the little city travel guides will be torn apart and only the maps and the guide to restaurants and places of interest will come along. I do have some interesting apps to try on the blackberry. There are several city metro maps and the one for Barcelona even has a feature where I put in the metro stop I want to go to and the app locates me via GPS and tells me the nearest metro station to go to. Ideally I won't take my phone through the metal detector this year. Last year it went wonky after the flight from London to Copenhagen. Must remember metal detector every time we reenter the ship! We have moved our departure date back yet another day. Last year when we first dreamed of doing this, our plan was to drive to Ft Lauderdale and leave the Honda with my brother. The glitch in this plan is getting the Honda back. It would require us to fly into Ft Lauderdale and drive home after a night's rest (hotel room). We fly home at the height of hurricane season, so this could add another twist to plans, and it just seemed a better plan in the abstract. Second plan was/is to fly to Ft Lauderdale on Saturday April 30th and have an overnight and dinner with Danny before boarding the ship on Sunday and sailing away. Since Cheapo Air is even more cheapo in the early morning, we finally decided to get a ride down to Tampa on Friday and stay at the Tampa Marriott. Besides, I found a room deal on booking.com for $110 less than booking on the Marriott site. We often find it convenient to ease into travel mode this way. Besides, our housesitters never complain about another day on the river. So, there only remain 600 things to do before we leave. I'm thinking that I'll change the batteries in the shades right now! KG