This week is all about travel prep.
The plan to go to Scotland and Ireland started forming over a year ago. During the past several months we’ve filled the tour with 23 travelers and held a half dozen informational meetings. Now we are less than a week from departure and the real prep is happening!
I always travel internationally with EF/GoAhead. Yesterday our assigned tour director reached out via the app, provided us with lots of great information, and offered to organize a “night on the town in Scotland”…a true Scottish experience complete with pubs, bag pipes, haggis…the works. I can tell already I’m really going to like our tour director!
So, what am I doing as I count down the 6 remaining days to departure? Lots!
Preparing my body for an 8 hour plane ride: This may sound dramatic, but travel days are hard on this body! Getting up early, spending hours on a plane breathing recycled air, eating questionable food all day, lack of sleep, hours of sitting with little to no physical activity…not my favorite part of traveling! I really try to prep my body days in advance! Yesterday (at 7 days to departure) I started taking Airborne which I will continue daily until we leave. I also started hydrating, trying to get at least 80 ounces of water in each day. I’m practicing yoga every day to keep my body stretched and at ease.
Packing: Laundry, laundry, laundry! I’m washing and setting aside the clothes that I think I might want to pack. I’m sure I will narrow it down once the packing begins but right now I just want to make sure I have everything clean and ready to go. For this 12 day tour I will pack 6 pair of pants or jeans, 10 tops, 2 pair of pajamas, clean undergarments for each day, and travel sink suds in case I need to do some laundry in the sink. I’m using packing cubes (I could write a whole paragraph just on the benefits of packing cubes), and I’m going to be sure to pack some of mine and my husband’s clothes in each of the two suitcases we will be checking. That way, if one suitcase gets delayed, we will each have clothes to wear! I’m also packing one change of clothes in my carry on weekender bag.
Documents: Lastly, I’ve prepped a folder for our adult son so that he has copies of important documents, our travel itinerary, flights, and hotel accommodations so that he can contact us and/or provide copies of things should we have any issues while overseas. I’m traveling with my cross body security purse so my passport and other important documents will be securely with me at all times.
I’m excited and ready for the day before departure to arrive so I can check the weather forecast for Scotland and Ireland and start actually packing everything I have set aside. Until then…I’ll just keep drinking water and herbal teas, eating healthy foods, hitting the mat for some yoga, and taking Airborne to boost my immune system as much as possible.
If you have any questions or want more information about how I prep for two weeks of overseas travel, please comment below! Join my Facebook Group, Gaddie’s Travel Gang for information about upcoming trips.
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