After the trip thoughts - packing

So I decided I wanted to keep posting for a little bit on some of the tips and tricks we learned, and what we did that worked or didn't ... when we were preparing for our trip I scoured the internet for blogs from "normal" people for their packing tips, especially for packing light in small carry on backpacks for those budget airlines.

For the 2 people that read this who aren't my family, I thought I'd share about our packing. 

I packed in a 38 liter Gregory Jade pack. EasyJet's carry on requirement was 50x40x20cm, just barely under the "normal" carry on size we are used to in the U.S. The other issue is that they only allow 1 bag per person. Not 1 bag and a purse, but ONE BAG. And they checked. So when packing, I had to be sure everything fit in my backpack, but that it also had room to squish my purse in it last minute before boarding. The plus with a backpack - they were a little more lenient if they saw you carrying a reasonable sized backpack. They didn't question us, but we did see people with slightly larger, more packed out backpacks get stopped and checked for size.

 The above photo shows my full backpack, with the outfit I wore on the plane - heaviest/bulkiest clothing. It worked well to carry my coats over my arm, if I needed a little extra room in my bag.

 These pictures detail everything I packed for our 3 week trip. Our trip was in the fall, and the weather was much colder than expected, so I was very happy with all the layers I brought.

Clothing:
2 tanktops
2 t-shirts (quick dry)
1 longsleeved t-shirt
1 sweater
1 warmer baselayer
1 flannel
1 pair Lululemon cropped tights
1 pair shorts
1 skirt
1 pair of skinny-ish jeans
1 pair hiking pants
3 short smartwool socks
1 long smartwool sock
4 pairs quick dry undies
1 sports bra
1 regular bra
2 scarves
1 hat
1 pair gloves
1 belt
*All of this, I fit into 2 small packing cubes. ROLL all of your clothes, as tightly as possible. Those packing cubes can hold more than you think, and when packing in a backpack are invaluable. You don't want to have to take out all of your clothes one item at a time when finding something at the bottom of your bag.

Shoes:
Keen low hikers
Born leather boots
Toms (wore twice)
Chacos (wore once)

Jackets:
1 rain jacket
1 warmer fleece jacket
1 lightweight down jacket

Extras:
1 pack towel (helpful for squeezing out extra water from clothes when doing laundry)
1 travel-sized brush
glasses case, glasses
1 quart-sized bag of liquids (including packets of Woolite for doing laundry in the sink, and 1 pair of extra contacts! With all the trains/planes, my contacts dried out super fast!)
1 small makeup bag (necessities only!)
1 necklace, 1 extra pair of earrings
travel sized package of face wipes (a MUST for waking up after a night train...)
1 small bag of electronics (phone charger, camera charger + batteries, multi-country plug adapter)
camera
Kindle
Small purse
(I did not bring the water bottle shown)

Jeff brought our travel clothesline (which didn't really work), extra chargers, the iPad, the Surface, which we were going to use to offload pics onto (which didn't work), and his own clothing, etc.

Things I would have packed differently:
Underwear - definitely a must to have quick-dry undies, but would have been nice to have 1 or 2 cotton pairs for variety
Pants - would have liked one more pair of pants, jeans or otherwise, but space-wise, might have been hard to fit.
Shoes - didn't wear Toms or Chacos like I thought - our hostel showers were spotless, since we were in private rooms, and it was much colder than we planned, so another pair of nicer walking shoes would have been nice.

Overall, all 4 of us were happy with what we brought, and maybe would only change a couple things about what we packed. We had to get creative with mixing and matching... we were sick of our clothes by the end of our trip, but so glad we packed light!!

Photo Time

Sifting through all of the photos! This is going to take a while... so thankful for this amazing trip and amazing friends to have shared it with. We tried hard to write down as much as we could as we went, and to take as many pictures as possible, but it's so hard to capture everything we did. So many things packed into our 3 week trip. I'll keep posting for a while on here just so we can remember different parts of our trip, and to add some extra tips that we learned while we traveled. :) 

Us at the Old Man of Storr, on Isle of Skye

End of Switzerland and France

This picture is Jeff enjoying the Swiss newspaper. We left Switzerland on Tuesday early a.m., so we joined the commuters on the trains. Interesting to see the contrast from central/eastern-German Switzerland to western-French Switzerland. As soon as we got to Bern and Geneva, everything was in French.
We had such an amazing time in Switzerland, we were having a hard time leaving. We talked about coming back with our kids someday. this trip has opened our eyes to so many different things, especially cultural differences and things we need to appreciate more that we take for granted or are unaware of in the US. More on that later. But after our amazing time there, we were not expecting anything to be as wonderful.
We just had our last night with James' aunt and uncle and kids. We have had such a great time being.with their family, sharing amazing French meals, conversation, seeing the French countryside and soaking up more history than I thought possible. More observations to come maybe tomorrow, since we will be on the train allllll.day on the way up north to Mont St Michel. We have been in Perigeux, which is 2 hrs outside of Bordeaux, so have to travel all the way to the North of France. Whew. But can't wait for the adventures ahead! Can't believe this is all still happening! Life changing experiences every day.
More to come. :)

Crazy travel ... But finally in Switzerland!

Boarded our train out of Munich at 2245. The train was full of people who fully enjoyed Oktoberfest... So glad we had first class tickets with our rail pass so we didn't have to deal with too many of them. Some make it up into 1st class anyway, and the conductor doesn't want to get in fights so they don't enforce the rules that late. Apparently Switzerland doesnt like trains running too often. at night so we didn't have too many options. Jeff snoozed while.I stayed awake to keep an eye on our stuff and listen for our stop. Got to charge our devices though! Sooo tired.
Got to Salzburg to catch a train that would take us to Zurich, obvious we are now in another country. Different dialects, cannabis green tea in a can, different Oktoberfest outfits... :)
Waited for an hour in the freezing cold, and then we were lucky to get beds on the night train into Zurich (although catching this at 2am!) Our bunk mate wasn't super excited to have us join her that late. Slept in our clothes, and arrived via 3 transfers in Interlaken, Switzerland by 930 this a.m. phew.
Our rail passes get us 25% off the Swiss rail system, so had to pay to get our train to Lauterbrunnen. I felt my stress melting away as we drove away from the cities and saw more trees, cows, fields and lakes. Once here, seeing the giant cliffs, huge mountains peeking above the clouds, even in the rain, was SO glad to get here. Showed up at 10 and couldnt check.in to hotel till 2 so stowed bags in lockers, and walked through the town. Started drying and clearing some. We were super sweaty and gross after our bike ride yesterday and being up all might. So we figured why not, let's walk the valley. So walked to the other end of the valley 1 1/2 hrs, through beautiful countryside, next to cows with their tinkling bells, gorgeous river, countless waterfalls, basejumpers, flowers, adorable homes and barns. Magical. Can't think of any other way to describe it. Took bus back, and wandered around some more, getting some snacks from store, and then were able to check into hotel. finally got cleaned up, rested, enjoyed some local cheese (made when cows go up higher into alps in the spring) and wine, then took a nap before a light dinner in the hotel restaurant. Looks like they offer quite a bit of local vegetables and local game, but we could only do soup tonight... Maybe tomorrow! Again...in bed by 845...we feel old!

Munich Oktoberfest

Went to bed at 830 last night, all slept soundly until 7 this a.m.
Met people last night who told us to get there at 9, so we did. Paid way to much for a quick and not so convenient coffee and breakfast,
As we were walking to Oktoberfest, saw people drinking on street, as is legal, at young ages, also legal (age 16)
Randomly picked the tent with shortest line and coolest.people outside (augustiner). Ended up finding a table with 3 nice looking German girls. Was their first time at Oktoberfest too. Had great time, practicing German, learning about them, their families, boyfriends, culture, Bavarian culture. Kersten, Ramona, annika. Kersten was 28 like michelle and James , Ramona was 18! Met cute old couple married 55 years. They were all surprised we were married already (so young).
Lots of singing, beer drinking, flirting between all the girls/boys. Stayed until early afternoon, then went on ferris wheel, saw whole city, alps, fair grounds, stood in crazy line, more like a clump of hundreds of people.
At Starbucks for our quick email.checks, found out about passing my test!
We wanted to.celebrate, but all.almost fell asleep, but we went to dinner at Mexican restaurant. Ha! But, it had freshest food we have had in days.
In bed by 830 again. Whew.

Munich

Was eerie sleeping on.the train. Kept waking up and sounded like a scary movie. But we survived!
Get to Munich tired and sweaty and sore.
After stowing bags in lockers, Caught train to Dachau concentration camp, an emotional experience. So glad we did this, but was hard to see.
After we took the train back, found our cute hotel! Pleasantly surprised with how close to.the main city center, and how cute it was!
The Guys got to enjoy beers downstairs with Gunter, hotel owner and manager, hear about his Ferrari.
Walked around, since so close to everything. saw st Michael's cathedral, other churches, the famous Glockenspiel, got to watch it chime!
Decided to brave the touristy Hofbrauhaus for dinner ... Great decision. Met a nice guy from Israel, and some other people from Germany, heard some tips about Oktoberfest for tomorrow...
Walked home. Bed by 830! Wiped out!

Berlin day 2

Sleep number 7000, extra starch. That was James' description of our firm hostel beds and sheets.
There was a cute antique store next to pur hostel, full of old dishes and linens.
We walked through a beautiful park to get to a former Nazi-era building, tallest still standing in Berlin (much of the area has been rebuilt after bombing and ww2), now it is a US Air Force Base.
Walked thru fun districts, similar to San Francisco and Queen Anne,.old buildings, cute shopping.
We were walking along trying to find a book store for James, when we were told to stop, and.cross.the street. A movie was being filmed, so we stopped to watch... And all of a sudden we saw Vince Vaughn! After we watched a short scene, James yelled "yeah, Vince." Everyone but Vince looked over at us. Ha! We stole some sneaky photos on James' camera that we were told not to take!
On our bike tour, our guide had told.us to check out the Turkish market, which we did today. It was such a fun experience. So much culture, amazing displays of food, wares, and apparently no photos allpwed, oops! A nice man told me kindly that I was supposed to ask each merchant if I could take a photo. Now I know why some of.them looked at me funny... But it was beautiful.
In two days in Berlin, we walked over 25 miles, plus our 8 mile bike ride. we are all exhausted.
We went back to the Memorial to murdered Jews of europe museum, very touching and moving experience.
Walked through Brandenburg gate again, this time there was construction. So much changes in one day in this city!
Walked by the American embassy, and Jeff and James asked if they could go in, out of curiosity. An appointment is required.
We found a Biergarten afterwards to process the memorial/museum, and enjoyed schnitzel, currywurst, apple strudel, Bier, practicing our German, and discussing politics and culture! Wow.
Walked thru Grocery store to get snacks and bier for the night train. Always fun to find new things to try!
Oh, and we always needed to make sure we had .50 or 1 Euro on hand to use the bathroom. Mainly in train station, but on most public places too, unless you were eating somewhere.
Our first Night train. Sat for a while talking, waited for tickets to.get checked.and.drank beer and ate cheese, crakcers salami. A little crowded, woke up stinky and sweaty after walking all day and sleeping in a hot train. Now we are in Munich!
Photos: Turkish market

The Longest Day

We ate a yummy breakfast at Portage Bay Cafe in Seattle this (yesterday) morning before we left. we ran into friends and as we chatted before being seated, we were asked what we were up to for the rest of the day. "oh, just flying to Europe!" Ha!
We arrived early for our flight at Sea Tac, grabbed some lunch, then had a very nice flight with Iceland Air. Roomier than other flights we have experienced and they handed us water bottles as we boarded. Lots of in flight entertainment to choose from, movies, music, tv shows, etc. Along with the image of the airplane route. We all tried to sleep, since we have now arrived in Iceland in the a.m.
Poor Amy caught a cold right before we left so she is in pain with the flights. Loaded up with Benadryl though!
Now we are sitting waiting to take off for Frankfurt . They overbooked the flight and had to take some people off and then unload their checked luggage and reload all the luggage. It is SO hot right now.
Writing later...we were not as pleased with this leg of the trip as it was hot and crowded! Finally got to Frankfurt! Yay! Hurried over to the train station and tried to figure out how to board the train to Berlin that was leaving in 11 minutes! The information desk was super helpful, and we even had time to grab pretzel sandwiches! We hurried onto the train and had no idea if seats were reserved or not, so just grabbed a few and ended up just fine! We all got good naps in, as well as enjoyed the beautiful countryside.
Arrived in Berlin, had our first majorly confusing experience trying to find our bus to get to the hostel, then wandering around to find our hostel. Made it, and got the suggestion to enjoy "kebap" for dinner. Yum! Found a local pub to enjoy a beer, and now we are all crashig after being up FOREVER! More pics later!

Funny money and things

Tonight Jeff went to exchange currency, and came back with funny money!! Ha! It's so bright and colorful! US money looks so boring compared to the Euro and Swiss Franc. I can't remember if taking pictures of money is illegal or not, so I'm not going to post it here. ;-)

We are down to the last minute details - downloading Rick Steves' audio tours, music, books, movies (for those long flights) ... it sure is funny traveling with so much technology these days. Deciding which devices we're bringing is quite the adventure. I'm so grateful for all the book suggestions I got from Facebook land! And excited - I want to start reading the ones I downloaded now! But I read so fast, Jeff is making me wait.

Weighed our packs last night and packed them with every single item we plan on taking - they both weighed in slightly under the "max", and then Jeff researched the details on the baggage policy for EasyJet, the small airline we are taking 3 times in between countries. He found out there is NO weight limit for cabin luggage, aka "carry on"! For our long trips there and back on Icelandair, we get to take 2 bags as carry ons, so we can separate our stuff into our backpacks and "personal bags" (purse for M and tiny stowable backpack for J) that we plan on using for day trips, so the weight thing isn't an issue. A big HOORAY!!!!

Now the only thing that's left to do is...

WAIT! 4 days!!!

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!