Traveling light....

18 pound suitcase doesn't feel so light after 88 steps.

I've been such a bad blogger lately.  Sorry. I have lots of excuses, I swear. 

I didn't write much in April because I spent the entire month packing for my trip. Literally. I decided to go with this "one bag" system, because I am a notorious over-packer. For example, I just got back from a 3 day trip to CT. I packed 2 skirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of pants, and 4 shirts. And then I wore the clothes I drove up in for most of the time I was there. So I was trying to avoid schlepping too much stuff when traveling to a place where I had to take a plane, then a train, then a tram to my hotel.

I spent time researching the best and lightest bag to use for this packing light experiment. I went with this Rick Steves bag, because it was light and I could also carry it on my back. I also used packing cubes, which were awesome and really squished everything down tight. I packed one skirt, one pair of dressy black pants, one pair of jeans, 2 pairs of loungey pants, and about 7 shirts. (one snoopy, one pitfall, two plain black, one nice black, another black one...well you get the idea.)

I researched travel pillows, travel blankets, travel vests. I bought this awesome travel vest that held everything I needed in tons of secret pockets! I bought a sink stopper and packets of woolite for washing clothes in the sink. I bought blow up hangers that would allow the washed clothes to dry faster. I got a special travel towel that packs up really small. I got adapters for our plugs. I got travel tweezers and colgate wisp toothbrushes. I got earplugs and TSA approved luggage locks.

I learned all about the Swiss rail system and the Basel tram system. I studied google earth maps of Basel to learn where everything was in relation to everything else. I knew where my parents' hotel was and how to get there, at least on foot.

I ordered Swiss Francs online from Wells Fargo. I ordered copies of my credit card agreements and researched which of my credit cards had no foreign transaction fees (Capital One). I made copies of my credit cards, license, and passport and converted them into an encrypted password protected PDF stored online.

As I sat at my desk day after day ordering all this stuff, I realized why the travel industry is a bajillion dollar a year business. Because of suckers like me! Look at all the stuff I needed in order to "pack light." But really, I guess it was mostly a one time investment, since I'll (knock on wood) be able to use everything on subsequent trips.

All packed up and ready to go, I was proud to say that my suitcase weighed only 18 pounds! Little did I know that carrying 18 pounds on my back for a good part of the day would be so heavy. By the time we got to the 88 stairs to the hotel, it was all over. My legs were sore for 2 full days after carry that bag up the stairs. (My research provided faulty information on which tram stop was closer to the hotel...)

When I arrived back from my hospital stay, there was a brand new suitcase WITH WHEELS waiting for me. Oh happy day! I wouldn't be schlepping that 18 pounds on my back for the trip back to the States. Good work Rod!

Wheels, glorious wheels!

So that's my excuse for April, I'm working on my May excuse now.

By the way, this was my best travel buy.