The Last Week is Always the Longest

In four more days I will Central NY bound, to spend time with family and friends. Three days later (a week from today) I will be departing for NYC and then on to Amsterdam. I find my excitement growing with each day, but the passing of time seems to grow inversely proportionate in response. Luckily (I cannot believe I'm saying luckily in regards to working over a weekend), I have been able to go into work to take care of loose ends before I leave for two weeks and build up hours so I do not need to use as many vacation days. I have also been transfixed by the debt crisis, in terms of the potential immediate financial impact on my vacation (Will there be a spike in the Euro? Do I need to account for significantly more funding or are my levels good?) and the long-term effects on personal income (Government funded defense industry) and taxation. Between working and watching the news, the time has started to pass at a somewhat normal and consistent rate again. Of course when I'm on vacation, it will seem like I am in a timewarp, with each new day passing with the blink of an eye.

All Packed and Ready to Go

This weekend my wife and I packed up our bags for our Europe trip in two weeks. What can I say, I like to be proactive. I figure why worry about packing when I can do it now and get it out of the way. To complicate things we will be making a three-night pit stop in Central New York to visit our family, which means we need some more clothing and swim suits. Luckily for us, our daughter will be staying in NY until we come back from our trip overseas. Which means we will be piggy backing some of NY only items in her larger bag. This helps us out by keeping our Europe specific items seperate from the stuff we will need in NY, with the exception of toiletries and electronics. Now to figure out how best to pass the time until our departure.

Creating a Packing List

After suffering from a herniated disc, I'm now completely onboard with Rick Steve's pack light (and right) philosphy. So in preparation for my own trip overseas in three weeks, I've compiled my packing list. Over the course of the next week I will be assembling this list in my eBags Weekender Convertible bag and making sure it is well under the 22lbs weight limit for carryon baggage imposed by the airline. For now (expect changes) here is what I will be including for 9 days/8 nights abroad:

Clothing
2 x dress shirts (with collars, 1 white, 1 striped)
21 x casual shirts (i.e., polo and button down*)
1 x white cotton t-shirt
43 x tech/quick-dry t-shirts*
1 x pair black dress pants (new quick-dry/stain resistent material)
1 x pair blue jeans (I know, heavy and hard to dry, but they're rugged)
4 x pair quick-dry underwear*
4 x pair quick-dry socks*
1 x pair Khaki cargo shorts*
1 x pair sneakers/sandals*
1 x pair dress/walking shoes
1 x reversible brown/black belt*
1 x SEV travel vest*
1 x dinner/sport jacket (planning on several fancy restaurants)
1 x packable rain jacket
*Item to be worn during departure day for overnight airline trip.

Toiletries/Medications
Prescription medications
1 x Goldbond powder (amazing stuff!)
1 x packable detergent and body wash strips
1 x toothbrush
1 x toothpaste
1 x disposable razor
1 x deodorant
1 x blister pads

Electronics
1 x phone (Android, WiFi capable, microSD, camera)
1 x spare phone battery
1 x phone charge cable
1 x 4-port USB charger (with European power adapter)
1 x headphones
1 x headphone splitter (1 into 2)

Miscellaneous
1 x passport
1 x travel umbrella
1 x packable daypack
1 x hidden pocket
1 x printed out copies of paperwork (digital copies stored on phone and online at GoogleDocs)
1 x spare pair of glasses

I also like to estimate the replacement cost for my own record and in case I need to make an insurance claim for total loss of items (hopefully never necessary). Expect updates as this list evolves over the course of the next week. I would like to have everything packed up and ready to go, well before I need to.

7/21/2012 Update - Majority of items packed, with plenty of room and weight left. I decided to add two additional shirts, which should help extend the number of times I need to do launcry (hopefully only once). Now I have to actually pack the items using compression bags to save as much space as possible.

Prepping Electronic Materials for Trip

It is about 4 weeks until our 9-day Europe trip and I feel I have a strong handle on the layout of the land and directions between important locations thanks to hours spent reviewing GoogleMaps and StreetView depictions. During the initial trip planning I developed a map based itinerary (click here for template of map based itinerary) that geographically represents where we need to go and identifies specific times we may need to be places (i.e., before they close, when they open, scheduled, etc...). I then went a step further and developed a set of detailed instructions using PowerPoint, GoogleMaps, and StreetView or online pictures of the locations.

The following picture depicts an example of one of the directions I will be including for my upcoming trip.  I would like to visit Modeder Lambic Fontainas one of the evenings we will be near the Grand Place. However, I have heard it can be difficult for some travelers to navigate the warren of side streets in Brussels, so I will be depending heavily on several such map files.

To make the map file, I use GoogleMaps (or another navigation tool capable of satellite imagery and directions) to capture the walking directions between an estimated starting location and where I want to end up. Once I have the information entered, I select the option that appears to best suite my needs and copy the text to the right side of the PowerPoint file along with the estimated times and distances. I then perform a screen capture, copying and cropping the map (from GoogleMaps) into the left side of the PowerPoint file. To finish the map up I locate an elevation (i.e., front view) image of the site and place this as a large image with a red border over the map. Click here to download a template for this map...

When I have completed a set of instructions for each city, I then save it as a *.PDF to improve sizing and ensure compatibility with multiple devices. Before I leave I will transfer all of these maps/directions to my Android phone, my iPad, and my wife's Nook Color. That way we will have all the information we need at our fingertips, even if our devices are not connected to a WiFi network. Repeat after me, "Prior Planning Prevents P#ss Poor Performance!"