With only 1 month before we start our adventure, it all becomes about what to bring.
It’s getting close and we are getting SOOOO excited. Visas, vaccines, and most of our excursions are done. Now, what to bring??? I put together a packing list of everything I thought we’d need, or at least want to consider bringing. I broke it down into categories: Travel documents, Carry-on bag, Clothing, Toiletries, Medicines, and Other. It turned out to be a ridiculously long list.
Inexplicably, United will allow for 2 free checked bags going over, but only 1 coming back. Seriously? I can't imagine how we could possibly fit everything into only 1 bag, especially given the 50 lb weight limit. We decided it was worth paying the extra bag fee coming back . Hopefully it's just one extra bag! We do expect to be buying some things along the way.
Anyway, looking over the list, I could see there were some things I was going to have to buy. I wanted a good day backpack that was going to be a lot like Goldilock’s bed: Not too big and not too small, but juuuust right. I also was going to need some more bathing suits (that's a lot of pool days), workout clothes (I have grand plans), some comfortable walking shoes, a sunhat or two, medications, and a few accessories for our cabin. And since I live a pretty casual lifestyle, I was going to have to come up with a whole bunch of outfits for dinner--including 5 formal nights. The challenge for me is that I really didn’t want to buy a lot of clothes I won’t often wear once the cruise is over.
The bright side of taking pretty much everything you really like in your closet is that it puts a glaring spotlight on what you actually wear. Not surprising then, we both separately came to the same conclusion: If it ain’t going, it ain’t staying. We are both looking at this process as a great way of cleaning house and down-sizing our wardrobes. I mean seriously, there is so much stuff in my closet that I’m going to wear “Someday.” Well, if this isn’t that day, it’s probably never going to happen, and I certainly won’t miss it. So once the packing is done, there is going to be a dedicated culling of all clothes and shoes.
For a trip this long most of my toiletries were going to have to be full, which means brand new. Working off the list, I bought everything I needed, and just dropped it in a box to all be packed later. Bathing suits were also pretty easy since I live in Las Vegas and you can buy suits here all year round. Well, easy as buying bathing suits can get. You know what I mean. Skechers make super comfortable shoes, so I got some sneakers and sandals there. I also got my sunhats and sunglasses at Kohl’s, my just-right backpack on Amazon, and a simple black pencil skirt that will go with just about everything from Target. It takes a little time to shop around, but I like everything I got and I didn't spend a ton of money.
For the cabin I bought some over-the-door shoe bags. One for the bathroom for our toiletries as it doesn’t look like we’re going to have a lot of counter space in there, and the other for our closet. I also got some magnetic hooks. Cruise ship walls are generally composed of metal, so I like to use the magnets to create a little homier feel to the cabin. They're also great for hanging up bags, hats, and scarves. I've printed up a few photos of our pups and family as well as our itinerary to put up on the wall.
One of our concerns was whether there would be enough room under the beds to store our empty suitcases. Four bags in those tiny rooms can take up some serious space. Then we received the bad news from the cruise company that they shouldn’t be more than 9” deep. What??? Who has bags that small, especially when packing for a 45 day cruise? Not us, that’s for sure! We sweated it out for a couple of weeks, and then I was thinking about it as I lay in bed one night and it hit me: If we store them open, they’ll fit under the bed. As Lynda said when I texted her the solution, “Duh.”
There is one final category on my packing list that I didn't mention and that is the Before We Leave category. It may be the most important one. In order to truly enjoy our trip and not be constantly worried about what's going on back home, there are some things we need to take care of first. Obviously, some of the chores are universal, and some are individual. Items that were on both of our To Do lists were getting all of our bills on auto-pay, notifying our credit card companies of our travel plans, finding out about international phone service, arranging for plants to be watered, cancelling auto-ship subscriptions, and getting someone to pick up our mail. (Normally, I would put my mail on hold for a trip, however, you can only put a hold on for 30 days and then you have to pick it up within 10 days or they return to sender. That wasn't going to work. Fortunately, I get very little mail anymore that isn't junk mail. Since almost everything is sent electronically now, a once a week pickup will be fine.)
Personally, I also have a bunch of camera related stuff to do and just general everyday chores to take care of before I leave for the airport. And I'm going to get a new phone as my old one is slow, has a the worst camera of all time, and is out of memory. Oh, and the battery has no life left in it. Yeah, it pretty much has nothing going for it. Plus, I want to be able to take some snapshots with my phone so I'm going to bite the bullet and finally upgrade. Of course, I'll then need to get it all set up too.
Finally, besides shopping and knocking out our To Do lists, we’re finishing up our excursions. Gibraltar, Morocco, and Rome are done. Barcelona is about all that is left, and we already know what we want to do there, we just want to sketch out a plan so we can get it all in. Intuitively, it feels really urgent to finish these up, but then we realize the ports near the end of our trip are still 2 ½ months away! That's still plenty of time to work out the details, even if we wait until we are on the ship.
All that's left now is the actual packing and the rest of those last minute To Do's. Every Sunday one of us will text the other: "5 weeks!!! 4 weeks!!! 3 weeks!!! I’m so excited!"
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