CHEERS TO TRAVELING!

Today we leave for Frankfurt and the rest of our Europe 2009 adventure!

I can hardly believe that when I next return home I will have traveled through much of Western Europe! To think of all the experiences I will have!

All I can hope is that we keep it together and tackle whatever comes up. I'm sure not everything will run smoothly but that's part of the fun!

Cheers to traveling!

CINQUE TERRE GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with some information on the sites we're interested in visiting in Cinque Terre.

BAYEUX GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with some information about the sites we're interested in visiting in Bayeux.

FLORENCE GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with some information about the places we're interested in visiting in Florence.

BRUSSELS GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with some information on the sites we're interested in visiting in Brussels.

PACKING

Here's a list I made up for packing needs.

TO SLEEP OR NOT TO SLEEP

... that is the question indeed! We will be leaving for Europe in 2 days and have, since last Monday, been attempting to acclimatise. So far, I have adjusted to living 4 hours behind my normal time. I now eat breakfast while my family prepares for lunch! We are doing this in the hopes that it makes our overall adjustment a little easier. So far, it's just making me feel generally worn (although it hasn't done anything to smother the growing excitement!).

When I went to China a few years ago, I took some phony anti-jetlag pills. I doubt they worked but I did feel better than when I landed in England a few years before that.

Possible to avoid jetlag? Who knows - but we're giving gradual acclimatisation a try!

MAP

Here's a visual outline of our trip!

ANNECY GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with some information on the sites we're interested in visiting in Annecy.

ROME GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with some information on the sites we're interested in visiting in Rome.

AMSTERDAM GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with some information on the sites we're interested in visiting in Amsterdam.

NIMES GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with some information on the sites we're interested in visiting in Nimes.

VENICE GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with information about the sites we're interested in visiting in Venice.

PARIS GUIDE

Here's a chart I made with information about the sites we're interested in visiting in Paris.

THE BAG

Here's the bag I'll be using:

DOCUMENTS

Here's a list of the "documents" I'll be bringing:

• Passport (+ photocopy)
• Custom travel guides I made up for each city (I'll post them later)
• Maps
• Credit card (for emergency)
  
• Debit card (main source of $$)
  
• Insurance info
  
• An overall itinerary (I'll post this later)
• Hostel reservation info
  
• ISIC card
• HI card (picked up at Mountain Equipment Co-op)
• Photo ID cards and the like
  
• Passport-sized photos (you never know!)
  
• Flight tickets
• Eurail tickets (I'll post more information on our Eurail/train decisions later)
  

PLANNING

We leave for Europe in 20 days! Here's the plan:

• Frankfurt
• Rome
• Venice
• Florence
• Cinque Terre
• Nimes
• Annecy
• Paris
• Bayeux
• Brussels
• Amsterdam

We picked up our plane and Eurail tickets today and are busy making an itinerary/getting our various documents, maps etc. together. Soon, I will have to start packing!

I am not sure how often I will be able to blog while traveling as I plan to keep a pen-and-paper journal and sketchbook as well as e-mail close friends and family members. All that documentation coupled with the trip itself might leave little time to share on blogger, but I will definitely post our tips, some anecdotes, and as much useful travel information as possible!