Week 1
- Monday - Arrive Madrid at 0800
- Thursday - Leave Madrid, train to Barcelona
- Monday - Leave Barcelona 0900
Week 2
- Monday - Arrive Rome at noon
- Thursday - Leave Rome, train to Florence
- Friday - Leave Florence at 7:30 PM (back to Rome)
- Monday - Leave Rome 0900
Before leaving I searched the web and looked at several packing lists and packing tips. Rick Steves at http://www.ricksteves.com/ is an excellent site with a wealth of information about travelling to each of these places.
Following is what I packed, what I used, and what I'd do differently next time.
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Pants & Shorts (p = pair)
- Long 1p - ExOfficio
- Long 2p - REI Paramount Pant Convertible (with zip-off legs)
(tan, asphalt grey) - Shorts 1p - ExOfficio Cargo
- Shorts 1p - Docker (cotton, black)
- Shorts 1p - Columbia quick-dry shorts
- Shorts 1p - Nike running shorts (to sleep in)
- Comments:
( a ) Forget 100% cotton. The laundry facilities in Spain and Italy are all about air-drying your clothes. They synthetic fabrics dry quickly and wash easier. In addition, if you hand-wash your clothes, you don't have the "spin" cycle to remove the water before air-drying which dramatically lengthens drying time for cottons.
( b ) The REI pants with the zip-off legs double very nicely as shorts and look good enough to go to any restaurant while you are travelling. I could have easily eliminated the Docker and Columbia short pants.
( c ) I never used the ExOfficio Pants. The REI pants were better designed for protecting valuables (nice zipper pocket) and had the added flexibility of being long or short based on the weather.
( d ) I did use the ExOfficio Cargo Shorts. They were very lightweight, dried quickly and were comfortable.
( e ) I would bring an additional pair of Nike shorts next time. They take up little space, dry quickly, and I would have been able to rotate my sleeping attire easier - wash one and wear one.
My revised list for next time:
- Long 2p - REI with zip-off legs (tan, dark gray)
- Shorts 1p - ExOfficio Cargo
- Shorts 2p - Nike running shorts (to sleep in)
- Optional - add 1p of REI with zip-off legs.
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Shirts
- Golf Shirt 2p - Adidas Dri-Fit Golf Shirt (Blue, Black)
- Golf Shirt 1p - Nike Dri-Fit Golf Shirt (Maroon)
- Golf Shirt 1p Under-Armour Golf Shirt (Black)
- ExOfficio Long-Sleeve 1p (Blue)
- T-Shirt 2p - Under-Armour (Black)
- Comments
( a ) Adidas. The Adidas shirts are 100% polyester with an "open wieve". They are very comfortable even when it's hot (90F+) and you are walking around in the sun all day. They wash easily by hand and will usually be 100% dry in the morning.
( b ) Nike. The Nike shirt is also good, but the Adida was better.
( c ) Under Armour. I brought this as a "nice" going-out-to-dinner shirt. I did where it once. I never had to wash it because I only wore it once.
( d ) ExOfficio. This is the "standard" type of ExOfficio travel shirt with the long-sleeves that can be rolled up, vented panels, and breast pockets. I don't know why, but I waited until Rome before I wore this shirt. What a pleasure! It was light-weight, cool, and has a nice little slot in the left-pocket for securely holding your sunglasses. If it's cooler, or too sunny, you can roll down the sleeves. It hand washes nicely and dries very fast. Unbelievably, I had another one of these shirts that I use for fly-fishing that I left at home (tan color). Sure wished I would have brought it.
( e ) Under Armour T-Shirts. I brought these for layering under another shirt if it go cooler. It wasn't cool so I never needed them. I suspect that they would be very fast drying. The black color would also hide any dirt or stains.
My revised list for next time:
- Golf Shirt 3p - Adidas Dri-Fit Golf Shirt (Maroon, Blue, Black)
- ExOfficio 2p - Long/Short Sleeve (Tan, Blue)
- T-Shirt 2p - Under Armour (Black)
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Socks & Underwear
There was a challenge on the side of the ExOfficio underwear package that taunted me to only bring 3 pair of underwear for the trip, regardless of the lenght of the trip. So, I did some research and decided to take the challenge. I purchased some fast-drying socks and underwear and made the decision to do some hand washing every couple days. I'm glad I did because it's easy to do and reduces what you need to pack. However, as a safety I also through in the "regulars" as well. Here's what I packed:
- Socks 3 pr - "WrightSock Double Layer CoolMesh Low" from REI
- Socks 2 pr - Nike 100% cotton
- Underwear 3 pr - ExOfficio
- Underwear 2 pr - Under Armour
- Comments
( a ) REI Socks. Worked great. I got a white, gray, black pepper colored sock to hide any dirt and go with anything I was wearing. Worked great. Easy to wash. Easy air drying.
( b ) Cotton Socks. Forget it. Take much longer to dry.
( c ) ExOfficio Underwear. Worked great. Black. Fast drying. Wash tonight and wear in the morning. If you have more than 1 pair, it's easy to wash and rotate them without any problems.
( d ) Under Armour Underwear. Worked great. Black. Quick drying, but not quite as quick as the ExOfficio. However, if you have more than 1 pair, washing and rotating them would not be a problem.
My revised list for next time:
- Golf Shirts 3p - Adidas Dri-Fit Golf Shirt (Maroon, Blue, Black)
- ExOfficio 2p - Long/Short Sleeve (Tan, Blue)
- T-Shirt 2p - Under Armour (Black)
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Shoes
- 1p - Sketchers Tan & Black walking shoe
- 1p - Flip Flops
- Comments
( a ) - I only brought 1 pair of shoes. Wore them everywhere. Didn't need another pair for anything. Try to pick something that isn't going to turn black after 3 days of walking the city streets (eg. don't pick white!).
( b ) - Unlike me, you should wear your shoes for a few weeks before you travel in them. Me, I decide the afternoon before departure that I don't have the right shoes. So, I got a couple of small blisters walking around the 2nd and 3rd days. It wasn't a big deal, but if I would have broken them in a bit, I wouldn't have had a problem.
( c ) - I thought I'd use the Flip Flops in the showers. Nope. Instead, I found myself using them around the apartment in the evening. It felt good to let the "dogs" breathe and relax! Also, the tile floors in most of the accomodations are not "eat off" clean!
** No revisions to this list for the future. It worked.
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Other Items
Some other items that you should consider bringing are:
- Copies of all passports
- Copies of the fronts and BACKS of your credit/debit cards
(the backs have the key phone numbers!) - Printed lists of US Embassy locations and phone numbers.
- USB Drive with Roboform2Go (for carrying all computer passwords). See a description here. This allows you to bookmark and securely password any websites you use (think online banking, email, etc.) and then immediately access them with one master password. The 2-Go version allows you to put everything on a USB Drive and then plug that USB Drive into any computer and have all of this information at hand. It leaves no trace on the host computer when you remove the USB drive. Indispensible.
- HAT - REI - Outdoor Research "Sun Runner Cap". Washable, cool, works great. I didn't use the "neck screen".
- SUNSCREEN - bring your favorite, it's not easy to find exactly what you want there
- LIQUID LAUNDRY SOAP - easier to bring some than to buy a whole bottle once you get there and then have to figure out how to move it from 1 location to another. Get yourself some travelling bottles (3 oz at REI) and fill 2 or 3 of them up with liquid laundry soap for hand washing your clothes.
- HARD DRIVE to transfer photo's from SD cards (or camera) as backup for your photo's.
- EXTRA CAMERA BATTERY CHARGER. Yep, I bought two. Not sure if it was necessary (it wasn't), but I thought to myself, "what would happen if the charger died on day 2 of the trip ....".
- ELECTRICAL TAPE - came in handy once.
- BREAD BAG TWIST TIES - I use these to "lock" the zippers on my luggage instead of using the TSA locks. They keep the zippers from coming apart as your luggage is being thrown around by the baggage handlers, and they prevent someone from quickly unzipping your bag, stealing something, and then zipping it back up again. They can also be used for hanging laundry with a little ingenuity.
- AMAZON KINDLE- but download your reading material before you leave. You won't be able to get it while your travelling in Europe.
- COMPASS - I'm lucky because my watch has one. However, I can't tell you how nice it easy to easily be able to find North and then take off in the general direction you need to go. Once you are down in a maze of streets with your map, many of which aren't clearly marked on the map or on the street, just knowing where Santa lives can be a real help. I won't travel without a small one again.
- ZIP LOCK BAGS - Various sizes. Very handy for all sorts of things. Having different sizes is key. If you wait to buy them in-country, you will have to buy a lot of one size. They take up no room in your suitcase.
** Tip on using towel to wring your clothes
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