Burgundy (part 1: preparation)

Normally, I wait until the end of a trip to blog about it. I take a lot of notes during travel and then reflect, process, and write when I’m back home. It helps me fully appreciate the trip and get a little outside the moment.

Not this time! We’re heading to Burgundy for an entire month in just a few days. I’ve never been away from work for so long, having been very fortunate to be full-time employed for the past twenty years. We’ve been talking about and planning this trip for over two years, to the point that it’s a little surreal that we’re actually getting on an airplane and going.

Virginia wrote about packing light, which may seem to others an unusual approach to such a long time away. However, we’ve long known we need to pack light because of all the wine we intend to bring back in our Wine Check bags. The wine will consume most of our allotted space for checked baggage. More recently, we decided to bring the two kittens we adopted a couple of months ago, which has prompted some changes in packing. On the one hand, we can fill the Wine Checks with cat supplies that will be used up before we go home. On the other, it means at least one more bag per person to transport the kittens. Virginia’s worried about handling all these bags, but I’m counting on the use of carts (at airports) and cars (everywhere else) to make it all work.

We test-packed yesterday, using the packing lists we’ve created over the past couple of months. Unlike Virginia, I’ve decided I need two bags to ensure I have a week’s worth of clothing and the various electronics and games we want with us. So I’m going with my REI Traverse 30 backpack and my duffle bag that we’ve had since the early 2000s. Virginia also purchased some packing cubes last year, which make packing organization far easier.

She shared her list, and mine is pretty equivalent. We both took into account the long duration of our stay and intentions to buy many of our consumables once we’re there.

Clothing

• Sandals
• Dress shoes
• 7 T-shirts
• 2 button-down shirts
• 1 pair of jeans
• 1 pair of pants
• 3 pairs of shorts
• 1 swimsuit
• 1 rain jacket
• 7 pairs of underwear
• 5 pairs of socks
• 1 pair of sunglasses and case
• 1 extra pair of eyeglasses

Toiletries

• medication (Advil, prescriptions, Neosporin)
• toothbrush
• travel toothpaste
• floss
• razor
• deodorant

Electronics

• 12″ MacBook
• Kindle Paperwhite
• iPhone
• Anker 5-port USB power hub and all the cables
• Europe power adapters

Misc.

• pens
• mini notebook
• travel documents (including passport and international driver’s license)
• Burgundy guide book (there are surprisingly few for the region!)
• France road atlas
• RFID passport cover/wallet
• large nylon laundry bag
• games (Cards Against Humanity, Cutthroat Caverns, Kill Doctor Lucky, card deck)

I’ll get all of this into my bags over the next few days, and then we’re off!