more trip prep

Night before last Bryan, Daniel and I checked off one more thing from my enormous pre-euro-trip to-do list. We bought luggage. (Understand that this is a family whose last set of luggage was bought at the grocery store for fifty bucks five years ago.) Actually what we bought is something that the travel industry is now calling luggage. Far from mom's sturdy samsonite that couldn't be closed without sitting on it first what passes for luggage now is something that looks like it belongs on the space shuttle.

and I am totally into it.

But I have always been a containter freak (comes from being an INTJ) and although I don't get euphoric in the container store I do like the idea of being organized. "Idea" meaning that I aspire but don't always get there.

However, trekking in europe requires a little bit of organizing and luggage is part of it especially in terms of packing light. So we got these cool ergonomic wheeled thingys that double as a backpack, have a daypack attached, are classified as carry-on luggage and weigh only 7 pounds. They are made by the same people that designed the swiss army knife, so that should tell you something.

Packing light has taken on new meaning. It isn't just about taking less. While shopping for practical travel gear (like a nice rain jacket) I discovered that places like REI actually label their clothing with its weight. So now when you compare shop it is less about color and style and more about finding something that weighs less than 12 ounces. And most of the fabrics now are so space age that they have features that I never even considered. Did you know you can buy insect repellant pants? I guess spending the last few years wearing nothing but t-shirts and jeans has left me a little behind the times. What can I say, I make it into a mall maybe once a year and the moment I enter all I want to do is leave, so I am not what one would call a seasoned shopper. But for this trip of a lifetime I want to be prepared.

43 days and counting til we leave!