I'm taking off across the Atlantic again tomorrow. This time though I won't be going alone, I've got a friend to travel with. It will be interesting to see what's similar and what's different. I really enjoyed the alone time last summer, but I think having a buddy who will get you out and about when you'd rather just take a zero day will be beneficial. I came back last fall with a small sense of missing out a bit, because sometimes I would just spend most of the day in the hotel room. Now I don't think there's anything wrong with that, sometimes a vacation needs to be just that: doing nothing for extended periods of time. But, I do wish I had done more last time, so with someone else there to keep me from being lazy will be good. And this isn't just a one way street. I'm sure there will be times when he wants to just lay by the figurative pool, but I'll bring up this really interesting museum that's just a few minutes (read: miles) from our hostel.
Everything I'm taking with me for 30 days abroad.
I've been packed for days, but yesterday I took everything apart and repacked it just to be sure. This is the first time I've travelled using a checklist to keep track of my stuff, and somehow it just gave me more anxiety about losing something. I would second guess the checklist, and then second guess my second guess. I think in total I must have packed my bag about 8 times over the last week and a half.
I'm travelling with the same backpack I took last summer. You know, the one I've been promising a review of for nearly a year! Well, I don't mean to sound like I'm crying wolf here, but it's coming this time. I've decided the best way to write a review about it is to keep a running document about my thoughts and impressions as I go.
It's not like I'm chomping at the review bit here to get in early for those sweet, sweet views. This product has been out for ages, and has plenty of reviews you could easily peruse besides mine. Mostly I want to get this done for two main reasons.
- Practice. I plan on writing plenty of reviews in the years to come, and some of them will probably be for new products, which means I definitely do want to get in early to capitalize on all the people searching for reviews. I need to be able to write a competent review in a slightly shorter timeframe than one year.
- I really like bags and travel gear so partly I just want to write a review for this bag out of passion. Taking pictures of the bag, writing out packing lists, I really just enjoy the meticulousness.
So my plan is a running list of things I like and don't like about the pack that I can easily update on the road. Then, when I get back, the post is already written, I just need to format and post it. Flawless idea. I'm sure nothing will go wrong. After all, I have such a tremendous track record of keeping my promises and fulfilling all of my blog related goals.
In all seriousness, as I said in my resolutions post, I'm focusing more this year on getting back on the wagon rather than beating myself up for falling off. Will I write everyday while I'm travelling? No, and I don't have any allusions that I would. But I will write when I can, and I want to post at least a few times to the blog. Last year I took 1600 photos, and never took the time to sort them, so most haven't seen the light of day. I want to try and maintain organization as I go this time, and I'll hopefully get a photo post up. Who knows, maybe some of them will even find their way to my neglected Facebook page.
So that's the mindset I'm going on this trip with. Have fun, try to write as much as I can, but don't stress out if I don't. So with that, I'll leave you with this neat timelapse video I took of packing everything in my bag. I'm a little obsessed with it, and timelapse videos in general. There's just something about them, man...
Brought to you by the flash. Ahh-ahhhhh