Voyager, comme c'est beau

 My passport arrived in the mail! 

Which is pretty much just taking me another step closer to the trip, and gives me one more little thing to be excited about! And I am. Thank-you passport Canada! With the day off from work, I feel like I've dedicated a lot of today to planning the trip and what I need. Yet I've still neglected to look for the last hotels that we need to book. How do I manage that? I'm a natural procrastinator.

And when I procrastinate, I do it my way.

I keep thinking about how I'm going to pack. Who thinks about that this far in advance? Well, I do, I suppose. How many dresses, skirts, shorts and tops do I really need for the trip? What about toiletries and electronics? And is it honestly going to all fit comfortably, and not bursting at the seems like my usual suitcases are? The last time I packed for a 5 day trip I could barely fit everything in. And that was the same suitcase I plan on using for the trip. Needless to say I'm a serial over-packer.  It seems to be (to me) a major challenge that I am supposed to pack for what is undoubtedly the most thrilling, adventurous, multi-country European vacation of my life thus far - in one small suitcase.

Ever heard of this new thing called checked luggage?

 Yes, yes. I know. There is always the option of checked luggage. But it is exactly that, an option.  My fellow wanderers and myself have concluded that risking losing our luggage is not worth checking anything. I've personally been through many airports with checked luggage, and have never experienced the tragedy that is a lost bag. But I know many who have. And it's true that it would be a major nuisance if any one of us lost our bag in the journey. One that we can't afford to risk. Plus, isn't it just generally a good idea to travel super light when you're traveling Europe by planes, trains, boats and possibly automobile?

I've been there, and it wasn't pretty.

The last time I got on a plane I had two checked full 50 pound suitcases, a guitar, and my carry-on - I was moving, so it was pretty much that or give up most of my stuff. Everywhere I hauled the load (pushing one suitcase in front of me with the guitar balanced on top, carry-on bag on my shoulder, hauling the second suitcase behind me in what was an almost circus-like marvel) things would drop or swivel wrong or I would fail to fit through doors. It took all of my physical strength to haul my way across a parking lots. It is NOT something I would want to experience again. So light travel is the way to go. And when I'm hauling that suitcase up all those steps in Santorini... I'll thank myself that I'm not 'that person' again. Steps and suitcases do not go hand in hand.

Google images has taught me that Santorini is a land of many steps.

Not to mention that carrying that kind of hefty luggage does NOT seem like it would be a fun thing to have to do in Venice. Okay, I lied. I would do anything in Venice. Practically anything sounds good to me if it's there. But water taxis and an overdose of luggage sounds like a bad combo to me. So there you have it. Why to travel light. 

Probably the best way to get around a city, ever. 

Why is traveling so great? To me, it's kind of like this beautiful, prolonged dream that has seeped into reality. You're free. You live in every moment. You can meet the most amazing people and the most insane people. You can be you and know that the future is in your hands, and that you never have to see anyone again but anything could change in an instant. So travel is beautiful. 

And that's why I'm always finding ways to do it.

-Monica