My Life in a Nutshell: Reviews

Until my plane leaves!!

I received some great advise from my friend Mike who kindly went over my packing list for me… and he has actually been to Paris so the man knows what he is talking about (he will probably get a swelled head over that comment!)…

So here is the updated plan of attack… rather than re-listing everything I am just going to mention the things that have changed…

- nixed one pair of capri pants – I don’t really like capris anyway so this wasn’t hard to do

- added a lightweight hoodie – and a semi-lightweight North Face jacket – perfect for layering

- discarded the idea of the Nintendo DS – like I need to haul more crap around

- decided on a yes to the bathing suit (even if I look like a beached whale… but I digress)…

- TP… for those damned squat toilets

- I will be bringing a backpack on the plane… in it will be a spare change of clothes (I don’t trust Air Canada as far as I could throw them), my travel pillow and my travel information and iPod…

I hope to update this blog a bit while I am gone… but for the most part I will be keeping a journal and then doing a bunch of updating at the end with pictures and such. I am so excited… I think people at work are happy that they only have to deal with me.

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Here I am, less than two months from my voyage… and I think I have run out of steam on the whole researching thing… I mean – I can only fit so much into my trip… but here are a few things that I have figured out.

Yes – Rick Steves is a god… a quirky one… but definitly a travel god. I have taken out all his books in the library, and have scanned all his maps – they are small and easy to read, include all of the metro stops, as well as all of the touristy places that I will probably want to go. I am going to print off these maps and make them into a small book, and include all the information about prices, times, dates and all other pertinent information on the tourist attractions. Hopefully that will allow me to plan my free time.

I am going to convert most of my money while in Europe. I am going to bring three bank cards (two for the same bank – that will be my primary account), and one for a secondary account incase something happens with my first account. I will be calling in the middle of April to let the banks, as well as my credit card companies, know that I will be in Europe for a month so that my charges/usage doesn’t get restricted. I am also going to take all of the phone numbers of the banks and credit cards with me and probably store them in my suitcase incase something goes awry… but I am crossing my fingers that because I have common sense that I will be okay. I do have about £300 and about €300 in cash to take with me to get started (that is from my rolled coin money – it is amazing how quickly loonies and toonies add up!!).

Since I leave for Las Vegas in 16 sleeps for a week… most of my focus is on researching the Grand Canyon and the newest buffets right now… but I do visit the Contiki forums and Rick Steves forums at least once (read ten times) daily… I would hate to miss out on a good topic!

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Only 65 days until I head to the airport… I am getting so excited… good thing I have a week in Las Vegas over Easter to tide me over…

I think that I am over-analysing all of the Europe stuff… I spend my evenings researching places to visit (even knowing that I have both limited time in each city and limited free time)… I am determined to make the best of the trip. So I am making a list of places, gathering maps of cities and transit systems, and generally spending far too much time going over everything.

But I want to be prepared… for everything. I don’t want to have a set of plans that I will be extremely distraught if something doesn’t work – I want plans that will enable me to see another landmark or place if the one I planned on seeing is closed…

And I guess for that I must become a little OCD in the process and keep checking out Rick Steves’ books from the library like they are the holy freaking bible…

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Well, I hope that you haven’t been waiting anxiously by your computer for my next review (since I mentioned earlier in the week that I would write it the next day)… honestly, I don’t know if anyone is even reading this – but I hope that if you have stumbled across my little blog that it is actually proving helpful in one way or another.

Now… onto the towel situation. As with the sleeping bag, we are required to bring atowel on the European Whirl. Many people may just go and grab a towel from the closet and call it a day… but there are a couple of things that I think one needs to consider:

size/weight
absorbancy
dry-ability (my new word for not having to put a soaking wet towel back in my suitcase)

There are a couple of other things too – I am one of those two-towel people… one for my hair and one to wrap around my body. I know that I am going to have to give that luxury up (not that I am too concerned about it) but I still wanted a decent sized towel.

To combat all of my issues, I decided on the Adventure Towel Microfibre Bath Towelthat I bought at MEC for $25 (fancy that my entire sleeping bag only cost double the cost of the towel… hmmm…). It is in it’s own little carry case, and weighs a total of 186 grams and has excellent reviews from people who actually backpacked in places like Nepal – I figure if it doesn’t get a stink after six weeks there I can handle it for three weeks while travelling on a bus.

Hmmm… next topic… probably my suitcase… or backpack… or…. ahhh… who knows what I will get all my crap to Europe in?

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On the Contiki Concept (or Budget) tours one of the things you will find is that you will need to bring your own sleeping bag for the trip. The tours stay in campsites (although I have been assured that we are in cabins at the campsite, not actually in tents), hostels and the odd hotel. Contiki has (of course) re-named these accomodations in order (I am sure) to confuse us and make us think that we are not staying in hostels and campgrounds.

Contiki Special Stopovers – more like a hotel or guest-inn, as in Hopfgarten

Budget Hotels – these are more hostel-style, as in Amsterdam

Contiki Villages – these are the campsites, much like in Florence

OK… back to the real reason I am here today. Sleeping bags… yes – you need them, and no – they apparently don’t count in your luggage limit (you are allowed luggage tothese specifications)… but they do count in your weight allowance for the plane ride so you have to keep that in mind!

I am lucky to have a MEC right down the street from me, and decided that is where I was going to try and find the world’s lightest sleeping bag. I don’t need one with a -40 rating or anything – I am staying indoors, so I was looking for something compact and light. I stumbled upon this little baby – the MEC Caravan Sleeping Bag +10C – nice color, looks comfy and is only 1.0 kg (2.2 lbs.) – and at a price of $43.00 was totally in my price range.

Needless to say, the sleeping bag now has a home in my closet – and for fun I can pull it out and put it in its stuff sack where it gets smaller than a milk jug.

Tomorrow… stay tuned for the talk of towels… yes… I have to bring one of them too…

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