I have always wanted to see the world and I am so excited and deeply grateful for the privilege of getting to fulfill my travel dreams at this point in my life. I am off to London this week with my cousin Natalie and can’t wait to share our adventures with you!
Packing and repacking
Prior to my first international trip last spring, I studied travel guides, followed travel bloggers and vloggers, and sought out every tip I could find. I watched a lot of videos on how to pack for 2 weeks in a carry-on, and while I give credit to those who can do that, I have learned that I simply cannot. The first trip I ended up taking too much stuff and bought more souvenirs than would fit in my suitcase, so I ended up buying an extra suitcase to fit all the stuff.
On my second trip I planned from the beginning to pack two suitcases, so I had plenty of room for souvenirs, but I still ended up packing clothes that did not get worn.
And on both of those trips we covered a lot of ground and stayed in several different hotels and lodgings, so we were constantly schlepping luggage up and down stairs and in and out of cars, buses and trains. Ugh.
For this trip I hope to do better. I have made myself a packing list and plan to stick to it. My hubby also got me a new, lightweight but bigger suitcase for Christmas, so my plan is to pack everything in one checked bag. Fingers crossed that this works out!
I am really trying to be organized, so my plan is to lay out all the clothes I plan to take, roll them into packing cubes, then add in accessories, shoes, and must-haves, such as the USB travel fan I cannot sleep without, and the knee brace I had to buy in Spain since I forgot to bring one. A sidenote for those with bad knees or ankles – cobblestones are hell on those particular joints, so plan accordingly if you are planning to do a lot of walking on those types of surfaces!
Well crap. All my stuff fit in the one big bag with room to spare, but it weighs 9 million pounds. Well, not quite 9 million, but well over the weight allowed by the airlines, so, I will be taking a second suitcase after all. At least there will be plenty of room for souvenirs!
I am all packed now, just finishing charging my camera batteries. Tomorrow is going to be a little crazy. My flight leaves at 4:30 pm, but my husband has to catch a flight at 11:30 am, so I will take him to the airport, come home and finish up my stuff, then drive back to the airport, park the car, take a picture of space so Robert can find it when he gets back on Thursday, and get myself on my plane. Whew!
By the time this post goes up, I will have been in London for a couple of days, and I won’t be doing any writing until I get home. But I will be posting many, many pictures! Please follow along on our adventures on Instagram @phillipswatson, or on Facebook @randomactsofkelly. And be sure to send your suggestions for fun places we should visit.
Thanks for reading! Until next time…