[Reminder: all travel posts–including this one–are post-dated for our safety.]
We are leaving the country. The plan this time is southern Europe. Tourists can stay 90 days; we plan to stay for as long as we are still having fun.
After a terrible experience with our ex travel agent and after bad weather forced us to pivot an entire section of our last trip, we are going with the flow for this one. We have flights and the first hotel booked. We have researched four hotels for what we think will be our second city. Some other things are planned, but nothing else is booked. We are starting in Portugal where we’ll get to see his ex-work-wife and her partner. From there, the loose plan is Spain, the south of France, Switzerland, with a tiny dip into Italy, and then who knows.
I’ve been studying Spanish and French on the free version of Duolingo (which isn’t that great, so there is no incentive to pay for more). I doubt I’ll be able to say much, but we also have a translate app on our phones.
We aren’t checking luggage. I’ve been reading both of the OneBag subs, so we learned how to cut way down on clothes and things to bring. I bought some clothes that serve two purposes like a wrap skirt that also makes a dress. We are 1.5 bagging; we have a spinner and a backpack each. We are both brining a lot of tech (both cameras, his gaming gizmo, my laptop, hard drives, etc.). We both scaled way back on sundries, too. After all, we aren’t going into the Sahara; Europe has stores. We even downsized our laundry setup. We’ve also planned some travel-day snacks so we aren’t too rushed to make connections and transfers.
We are really looking forward to it. We’ve never been to any of these places. There is a lot to see!
[reminder, all travel posts, including this one, are post-dated for our safety.]