Let the packing begin!

After hours of research, playing with packs at REI, annoying the employees at REI with our questions, and constantly changing our minds, we finally bought our packs tonight!

We both had other packs we could have used. But none were small enough, yet big enough for all our gear, to allow us to carry on the small inter-country airlines which have much stricter carry on size limits.

We wanted packs that would be comfortable for carrying all our gear around town for the days we will be gone, but practical for getting into our stuff once we reach our destinations.

Jeff decided to get the Deuter 32 Act Trail, because he liked the pockets, front panel access and stuff pouch. I got the Gregory Sage 38 after much deliberation, because of the pockets, front panel access and suspension that doesn't take away from pack space, as well as the separate bottom sleeping bag compartment I plan to use for ny dirty shoes. These packs should serve us well on this trip, but we also bought them plannig to add them to our backpacking gear, for more ultralight and shorter overnight trips.

Now the trial and error of real packing begins. Stay tuned!

The Shoe Saga...

If you know me and my shoe obsession, this shouldn't be a surprise that I'm having a hard time deciding what shoes to bring on our trip. Actually, I enjoy wearing the same shoes for days on end, but having the option to choose is nice. So having to pick only 2 (maybe 3??) pairs to bring is really hard! Especially because we will be traveling in a variety of climates and enjoying many different types of activities - from long days of walking in the city, to hiking in the Swiss Alps, to enjoying the fashionable streets of Paris, to trekking in the mountains & countryside of Scotland.

These are the shoes that I'm trying to decide between... and most of the decision will rest on the types of outfits I end up putting together, but they also have to be comfortable enough and durable enough that I won't end up with blisters and soaking wet feet.

Trekking/hiking/supportive walking shoes: either the Keens or Vasque tennies. Both have the same issue, they are about 1/4 size too big, so I get blisters if I wear them super long, and end up bruising my toes when I am doing intense downhill hiking.

Casual walking/optional dress up shoes: either Toms, Clarks flats, or Born boots. It's just so hard to decide! I could also bring the super flat/light weight sandals as another option... The boots are heavy and bulky, and I could wear them on travel days, but we're doing so much in between travel, that I'd be wearing them a lot... they're super comfy, but I just don't know if I want to wear them that much.

Chacos. I could write pages on how much I love these. I need sandals for hostel showers, and they're super supportive, and I could walk for days in them, but we're going in October. Sandals in October in Switzerland? Not sure. They're also super heavy.