Thursday, March 15, 2012

Does it need to be stressful?

Seriously... packing is always one of those things that I have hated to do.  I already overthink everything and packing is far from the exception. It must be because you want your vacation to be perfect, which means, you want to be sure you don't forget anything and that you are comfortable in the clothes you decide to bring with you.  Hopefully you won't forget toothbrushes or toothpaste, or something even more necessary.

This already daunting task becomes much more complicated when you throw kids into the mix.  I remember packing for trips when little r was an infant - oy!  What a joy that was!  Funny, but it always ends up being just fine.

We are embarking on an awesome trip to Rome.  Yep, we're heading south for a little bit of warmer weather and some old world history.  I was fortunate enough to have visited Rome on a backpacking trip with my best friend just after college.  Big R has never been, and of course, neither has little r.  Things are just a tad bit different for me this time around than they were for my last voyage to the Roman Empire, and I can't wait to see it again!

For this trip we are trying something new.  We're taking the night train from Munich, which little r could not be more excited about.  Our fingers are crossed it is a fun way for the family to travel because there are several locations in Europe that we could visit this way.  We are already fairly light packers, but we are trying to be especially light on the luggage this trip because we'll be on the train and we don't want to schlep all our crap in a million different bags.  Somehow we accomplished this, and I'm just praying I won't be leaving anything too terribly important behind.

As I've gotten older, for some reason my desire to fit in and feel chic has increased.  Doesn't this seem somewhat backwards?  The more I find myself, the more I seem to want to express that to others.  Very strange.  My best friend has this awesome ability to not give a hoot about what anyone thinks.  I probably need to take a lesson or two from her book. Life would be infinitely easier, I'm sure.  Instead, I find that my packing is always done with two things in mind:  (1) looking chic or somewhat European, and (2) being comfortable.  Hey, the Europeans seem to figure out how to do it, right?  This just tells me there has to be a way.  The hardest thing for me has always been the shoes.  What is it about shoes anyways?  I have yet to find the perfect mix of finding those cute pair of shoes or boots that don't make you want to cry an hour into your long day of walking from museum to attraction.

I'll get all this figured out just in time that I'm old enough to not care anymore - haha.  All this aside, the bags are packed, the little man is excited as ever, and our family is about to have the vacation of a lifetime.  I can't wait to get back to you with all of the awesome details and share all of Big R's photographs of ancient Rome... 

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