I swore that this time I was going to travel light. Hah! Oh, I cut down the amount of clothes. Sure. For a two-week tour, I'm only taking:
1 dress
1 choir robe & tabard
1 set of concert attire (wrinkle-free dress pants and tunic)
4 sets of light-weight summer pants & tops for sightseeing
5 days worth of underwear
2 pairs of shoes (dress & walking)
a sweater
a light waterproof jacket
a broad-brimmed hat for walks on sunny days
That's not much. So what's taking up all the room in my suitcase?
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STUFF!
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The rest of the space in my suitcase is filled with:
o Plane STUFF:
~ a couple of paperback books for each transatlantic flight
~ crossword puzzle books
~ all the required tickets, documents and ID
o Music STUFF:
~ 2 binders full of music (mine plus a spare set)
~ a small portable keyboard, batteries, and charger
~ portable CD player & CDs
o Old lady STUFF:
~ Medications (We were advised to take only the original bottles containing the prescription labels. Most of my meds are ordered in 90-day batches, so those bottle are big.)
~ Folding cane
~ Braces for knee and ankle --- the joints that blow up like balloons after a long walk
o Sightseeing STUFF:
~ maps of London, Cambridge, York, Edinburgh
~ guidebook for London with good walking tours
~ printouts of thing I want to see in each city, with hours, admission prices, contact information
~ camera (more about camera STUFF later)
~ water bottle
~ folding umbrella
~ Sunscreen and bug spray
~ Backpack (will double as my carry-on baggage on the plane)
o Communications STUFF:
~ My regular cell phone for the Rochester/Toronto portion at the beginning and end of the trip
~ A rented GSM phone for the UK
~ Chargers for both phones (different voltages and connectors)
~ My laptop computer with all of it's gear (more about the computer STUFF later)
See? Waaay too much STUFF. Gotta do something about it before we leave on Saturday!
Kat Nagel
katnagel@rochester.rr.com
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