Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Did I mention that I hate to travel?  I love being in new places, but the process of packing and getting there is one of my least favorite things to do. Every airline having different rules doesn't help. We knew we would be taking a plane from the USA, but we also had to fly from Dublin to Paris. Then a train to Zurich and Budapest. And we rented cars here and there.

The acceptable size for carry-on luggage in Europe is 21.75 x 15.75 x 8 inches. EIGHT INCHES! Sheesh. I finally found an appropriate piece at Kohl's -- a Samsonite Wheeled Boarding Bag 13"H x 17"W x 8"D -- a little smaller than necessary but it worked just fine. We found all sorts of gadgets to help shrink the size of the luggage. I used packing cubes and the Eagle Creek Pack-it folder. Melissa used compression bags.

My purse or camera bag had to be less than 13 x 9.84 x 7.87 inches. I skipped the purse and used a travel vest instead.  Everything had wheels, except my "electronics bag" which was actually a cooler disguised as a camera bag. The cooler doubled as a real cooler when we traveled by car. (I liked it so much, I'm still using it and have already purchased a second one at Walmart.) I found this lovely Travelon Bag Bungee at Amazon.com and it tied everything together nicely.

For the plane we both had a Travelrest "Ultimate Inflatable Travel Pillow." If you are on the fence about these, all I can say is they really worked well for both of us. I probably wouldn't bother for a short plane ride, but crossing the pond was much more comfortable. I actually slept most of the way and woke in Dublin relaxed, refreshed and ready to go.

Phones, Cameras, Tablets and Accessories!

I loved my phone -- Samsung Galaxy Nexus, but it wasn't a quad band phone so couldn't be used in Europe.  We were leaving on the 26th and my phone was eligible for replacement on the 25th with Verizon.  I considered everything, including biting the bullet and paying full price for a new phone.

I went phone shopping at Best Buy Mobile.  They told me that the International division of Verizon could often issue new phones sooner. So that's how I got a Galaxy S4 in plenty of time for the trip.

Melissa already had a quad band S3, but not to be outdone, she went out and added a Note 10" tablet.  I would be bringing my Nexus 7 for email, surfing, reading and reference. I also decided to take the old Nexus phone because it would take a photosphere picture. And the good Canon camera for its zoom.

We used every single gadget and in some cases really needed them. We also needed a suitcase just for the chargers! We had wall chargers and car chargers for each and even had extra chargers and batteries for everything.

We had an extension cord designed for European 220v current.  It was Melissa's idea to leave all the chargers plugged into the extension as we moved from city to city. All we had to do was change the plug in each country.

The extension cord featured a blue light so we could confirm there was power. This actually came in very handy -- but that's another story. 

Why bring extra chargers? Have you ever had a charger die on vacation?  I have -- on the third day of two week trip.  And it was for a camera that used proprietary accessories. We didn't find a replacement until the vacation was over.  

Melissa used an International sim card from One Sim Card that gave her a US phone number and a European phone number on the same card.  I went with Verizon's International plan.  The cost was about the same for both, but she used her phone extensively and I made one call per day.

I also erred by not turning off mobile data while in the airport in the US.  Something had a major update and used up the first 100MB of data before I even left but after I had switched over to the International Plan.