Packing, Packing, Packing!!!

Okay, I admit it.  It's almost impossible to pack for an 18-day trip where we will be leaving 90 degree temperatures and going to 50 and 60 degree temps.  You just can't take lightweight clothes when you're going to be around glaciers in Iceland and Greenland.

However, while on one of those last minute "gotta see what else we must buy from Costco" trips over the weekend, I stumbled on the vacuum travel bags.  Costco has 12 of them (6 large and 6 extra large) for $24.99.  The beauty of these babies is that you can carry twice as much stuff in half the space.  The bad part is that you have to weigh your bags to make sure you're not going over the weight limit for the flight. 

Our puppy, Liesel, was terrified when Charlie vacuumed the air out of the first bag.  We had loaded up a bag, squished as much air out as we could, hooked up the vacuum to it, and vacuumed out the rest.  Now, there are goods and bads about this also.  We had to repack a couple of the bags because they ended up being too wide for our suitcase.  However, after the first two bags, we got the hang of it, and did the rest of the packing in no time.

ONE REALLY IMPORTANT PACKING TIP:  We always pack half of my clothes and half of Charlie's clothes in each bag so that if one of our bags gets lost, we will still have some clothes each.  We came up with this idea after Charlie's bag with all of his pants and shirts was lost when we arrived in New Orleans for a cruise.  He had to rush like crazy at the port to find a pair of pants and couple of shirts he could wear until we got his bag three days later.

Back to the vacuum bags - I've been cautioned to carry extra bags in case one of more of the bags spring a leak and we have clothes exploding everywhere when we open the bags in London.  Let's just hope the security personnel at the airport don't try to open one of these.  They'll never get all of those sweaters and jackets back in the bag.

Three Weeks from Today.....

.....we depart the U.S. for London!!!  Ironic, isn't it, that we own a travel agency, but haven't had a true vacation for ourselves in two years.  Last fall, we were scheduled to take a river cruise in Europe, but had to cancel when my mom became very ill and passed away.  We went to Gatlinburg with our family in March, but there was no one to make our bed or cook our meals unless we went out.  With four kids, ages 8 months to 8 years, it was a chore to pack everyone up and go out.  Although it was fun to just spend time with the family, it wasn't a relaxing vacation for me.  We also took our grandson to DisneyWorld for his fifth birthday - great trip, lots of fun watching him, but vacation for us?  No way.
     On August 31, however, we are taking a big people vacation for just us.  We're flying to London on Virgin Atlantic in their Upperclass.  Rewards Plus with American Express allowed us to move miles to my new Frequent Flyer account with Virgin and fly for only the taxes on this trip.  This airline is phenomenal and the Upperclass seats are actually individual "pods" that will recline completely flat, so you actually have a bed for sleeping over the pond.  We'll be ready to hit the streets running when we arrive in London the next morning.
     We are staying at the Crowne Plaza St. James in London, right in the heart of the city.  When we were there four years ago, we were fortunate to be able to actually go inside Buckingham Palace while the Queen was on holiday at Balmoral.  Because of our staying there for three hours, we didn't get to see everything in London that we wanted to see.  So, this time, we're going back to Westminster Abbey and to the Tower of London.  Of course, a trip to London without a visit to Harrod's would not be complete. 
     The best way to see this amazing city is by the hop-on, hop-off double decker buses.  For one fare, you can visit all the attractions you want and stay as long as you wish at each.
      England is not known for its cuisine, so we learned quickly to enjoy "pub grub" - fish and chips with "mushy peas", shepherd's pie, and bangers and squee, or as some call it, mash (sausages and mashed potatoes).  I'm sure there will be pub grub and a pint or two in our near future.
     After two nights in London, we'll head to Southampton and board Princess Cruises' Crown Princess for a 14-night Trans-atlantic crossing to Cornwall, Dublin, Belfast, Rekyjavek (Iceland), Qaqortoq (Greenland), St. John's (Newfoundland) into New York. 
     Our blog while we are gone will go into detail on each of these wonderful ports-of-call.  Don't you wish you were us right now!!!  We can make this happen for you.