Thursday, September 8, 2011

Finalizing Plans & Packing!

Well we have 10 days until departure! I completed my last shift at work, making me unemployed for the first time since I was 17! It's amazing to know that we get to go to Europe for a month and a half and not worry about work! I lucky enough to have a job lined up upon our return, so I don't even have to worry about coming home and being broke. :)

With ten days to go we have been kicking it into high-gear. Mostly finalizing our itinerary, checking out train reservations and hostel reservations. There's so much planning that goes into a six-week trip! Even so, we have left space in our itinerary for changes. I mean, no one wants to go on vacation and have an hour-by-hour schedule. Especially not a trip like this one. We know what cities we'll be in on what days and have a list of things to do, but overall it will all come down to how we feel when we get there.

Usually I wouldn't start packing for a trip over a week in advance. However, we leave for Colorado tomorrow and won't be back until the 16th. Which means we will have one full day between before we leave for Europe. So as much packing as we can is a good thing to get done now. We don't want our one day to be stressful, we should relax and enjoy our time in the states before departure.

One thing that we had to get done was our "in case of emergency" file. It's good to leave copies of important documents with a trusted friend or family member in case you run into trouble abroad. We're leaving copies of our passports, bank info, nonliterary, travel insurance, embassy phone list for the countries we will be visiting, Eurail passes, and our loss and theft protection for our passes. This way, worst case scenario, if we loose any valuables it will be easy to get copies faxed to us. It's the little things like this that are important to remember when planning a trip like this. Safety first!

As we pack we are thinking about other logistics. Such as "do we need an extra camera battery or SD card?" Currently, I have a 1GB SD card for my camera and Heather has a 4GB. You would think 4GB would be plenty of space, but you probably haven't seen Heather's travel pictures. ;) Luckily, we have family members who have graciously agreed to let us borrow an extra SD card or two. I suspect we will come home with a ridiculous amount of photos! Photos are free, and the very best souvenir! Specifically, I want some stereotypical tourist shots: trying to push the Tower of Pisa back up, in front of the Eiffel Tower, on a gondola in Venice, up the clock tower in Brugge, drinking a stein of beer at Oktoberfest, etc.

All in all, I think we have planned this trip effortlessly. And I cannot wait to embark! I also can't wait to share our stories with all of you. Stay tuned!

Safe Travels,
- Kit

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