I'm Tired of Summits, Thank You Very Much

As mentioned, I was in London on 7/7. What I hadn't realized was that the bombings were linked to the G8 summit. Somehow that had slipped my mind. That's making the news of the massive protests over the G20 a little more unsettling to me. I just pray that my kids' parents aren't watching the news like I am right now. It's going to be a traffic and security nightmare as it is. I'm thinking the less we're on the Tube, the better and the sooner we're out of London, the better I'm going to feel. It really pisses me off to say that, too, since there is really no city in the world I'd rather be in than London.

I'm packed and about to change into plane clothes and load up the car. It's going to be a long night, but I'm hoping the cough medicine will kick in and knock me out on the way over. I don't want to be jetlagging on top of all this damn stress.

Here We Go Again!

Tomorrow I leave for London on another school trip--10 days to London, Paris, Florence and Rome. I'm especially psyched because I've never been to Italy AND I have a better camera thanks to my daddy letting me borrow his. This trip will be more about pictures (and clothing, of course) than the chotski I usually buy. One can only have so many tiny Eiffel Towers and Big Bens, you know.

I thought that it would be best to document this trip from the earliest stages since I'm all about detail in the beginning and not so much at the end. ADHD in action, folks. Some may remember the great suitcase search of 2005--that was quite a struggle and I'm sorry to say that the suitcase is not making the trip this time because it was so frigging big I kept overloading it on the return trip. I've had to throw away books and overpack carryons every time, so that sucker is in the attic and in its place is a gorgeous new black Delsey that was a gift last Christmas...and I've probably already blogged about it because I lvoe my suitcase, but it's just that fabulous. Much better.

I'm trying to keep it to one suitcase and one carry on, plus my travel bag (which is enormous beyond all reason, but will look very chic in Paris). Packing has never been my strong suit, but I'm trying desperately to cut down on the clothes so I can bring cool new clothes home. The weather is going to be tricky since London and Rome are quite different, but so far, fingers crossed, rain isn't a big issue and it should be fairly warm. I'm the Queen of Jackets, so I'm doing the travel-wardrobe layering look. Shoes are a concern, but I'll make them work. Black is very forgiving.

I've waited to pack until tonight--aka the night before I leave. This is unlike me. Usually I have most non-clothing items packed, but not tonight. I started at 7:00 and, well, you can see how it's gone thus far:

Phase I: Sorting it all out. This is a rough phase, made that much harder by the fact that I've managed to lose my French electric adapter. I do, however, have two that can be used on my next trip to Fiji.

Obviously, this is not all going to fit in the carry on...and I am NOT taking a bigger carry-on...I hope.

I'm going to take lots of black clothes since it's Europe and they hide the dirt, so I thought, "What the hell, let's get a shot of the lens cap, too." It was on purpose. Really.

Suitcase--until 7:45 this is all that was in it. Three jackets, a pair of jeans and a belt (leftover from my birthday trip to Jasper).

This is it at 8:29...there's a lot more in it. Progress is being made. Note the gray and black skirts on the top of the pile--you will see them in many photos. Not sure about that plaid coat because it's gonna wrinkle like hell. And that watch is about as ugly as it can be, but I needed one with an alarm...What that white stuff is, I have no idea since I don't usually pack much white for London since it all just gets icky.
I found the passport last week--for those who don't know, this is not always such an easy task. I'm very proud to announce that THIS passport is going to make it through 4 overseas trips! A personal record for Kim's passports. I had one that made it one trip and another that did three...well, technically, I think it actually made it to Mexico, too, but that wasn't really OVERseas, so this passport--#3--is the winner. Evil #2 hid in the storage drawer in my van and cost me $100 and a near heart attack when I was heading to London in 2005 (note the stamp in #3). I made it, though, and was there just in time to see the Olympics announcement, go to bed and wake up to the subway nightmares. I didn't realize I had the July 6 stamp.
I rounded up the pounds and euros to take along. That would be 22 pounds (I'm too lazy to find the symbol) and 3 euros and some change or roughly $31 and $4. Not bad. I found the ten pound note when I was cleaning all the Tube passes and receipts out of the passport holder. That's my trusty EF phone card there, too. It's been on several trips with me as well.

Now I have to go see if I can find my Top-Up card for my London mobile phone or else I'm afraid it's going to be useless. That I found the charger for the damn thing is a bloody miracle.

Heading back

Five and I are leaving tomorrow for his first trip to London. We're packed and pretty much ready. I think it's a personal record--I don't need to run buy anything tomorrow, I'm not waiting on anything to finish up in the dryer and I am not dead tired or all jittery.

Will update once we arrive--assuming we survive the trip and the schlep of 100 lbs. of luggage from Heathrow to Bayswater--still not sure on the best method of transport. We're going to assess our level of deadness upon arrival and choose between tube and a train to get in from the airport.

Ten days, staying in a studio flat--we'll probably be bat shit crazy after all that together time in such a confined place, but I'm looking forward to the trip. Very excited to see how Five reacts to seeing the touristy things and also looking forward to hitting the markets: Portobello, Camden, Spitalsfiled and Borough for sure. Oh, and Primark on Oxford St. I'm soooo going shopping this trip. Can.not.wait!

Almost Ready

Most of the clothing is packed with room to spare. Carry-on bag is packed. Just have to put together my stuff in my laptop bag and I should be set. This is far too easy. I feel as if I must be leaving something very important behind. Not good.

Packing Sucks

I'm a terrible packer. I do this every time I travel--I try to plan out "outfits" and end up taking far too much crap wherever I go. When I get there, invariably, I only wear the same three things over and over, in different mixes, because the weather sucks, my other shoes are uncomfortable, or whatever. Yet, here I sit, two days before I leave and my suitcase is brimming with clothing. I can't make decisions, so I have about four lightweight sweaters. I have three or four jackets to take--lightweight, outfit jackets, not coats. I have long and short sleeved t-shirts. Jeans and pants. Etc. I wasn't going to take my giant suitcase because, well, it's giant, but now it's clear that I will have to if I intend to make any purchases or take things such as shampoo and a hairdryer (and I must take a hairdryer because those in the hotels that our tour company provides are usually not that great, if they are even present).

I read on a travel board where a woman said she was going to Europe for three weeks and she was taking two pair of pants, two skirts, three shirts and a couple of cardigans and jackets. At this moment I have at least five t-shirts packed--some long, some short-sleeved. And then there are the three light-weight sweaters and the jackets and the blouse or two. Granted, she's planning on doing laundry and I'm not, but SERIOUSLY? There is just no way. I guess since I am not really crammed for space--the big suitcase is not a big deal except being a bit unwieldy--I should just embrace the wardrobe and move on because I know that as sure as I leave a long-sleeved tee back here, something will stain one and rip the other and then I'll freeze to death. If I'm prepared, I'll just wear the black one over and over and y'all can laugh when I post pictures.

It's That Time Again, Kids!

Yes, time to get packed and ready to head back to my second favorite country, jolly old England. I'm taking a very, very small school group over on the 9th and we're staying for ten days. I've packed nothing. I've planned nothing to wear. I don't even have a suitcase for this trip. The one I bought the last time-described here--is just entirely too large for this trip. I am trying to keep my stuff more managable this time around, plus I've lost a bunch of weight so I don't actually need as much room for my clothes as I used to. I haven't even actually laid eyes on my passport in months. I guess I better get in the mood. I think I'm going to read old blog entries to fire up some excitement.