MomDDTravel

I really put my trip with dd on the back burner for the last few months with my son's wedding and all that is going on personally.

I realize now that I am about eight weeks out for the biggest adventure I have ever been on in my life.

I feel like I have loose ends...but am not sure what they are??

I have:

Airlines tickets
LAX - LON
AMS - Florence
Salzburg - LON
LON - LAX

Eurostar ticket to get us from LON to Brugge

Rail pass for us both for travel

Hotel in London
B&B in Brugge
Oct 1 - 5 - ?
I have a flight out of AMS to florence on the 5th.
I have hotel reservations in Haarlem and believe that is where we will end up - I am just not 100 percent on the hotel (JOOP)

Oct 5 - 18 Florence! Apartment and Italian Immersion classes

Oct 18 - Oct 28 ??? I have reservations in Venice and Salzburg - I need to finish up the Salzburg portion - We fly from Salzburg to London on Oct 28..

Oct 28 - November 4 - London - I have a flat there - overnight to Bath in there...

I know I need to nail down the 18 - 28 -

Do not need to worry about mail etc - dh may or may not still join us in Florence (I am hoping he will)...

Packing??? UGH.

MomDDTravel

tt - I know that some of you will have great suggestions on things I should be doing or that I am forgetting.

Fodorite018

As long as you have an ATM card with enough money in the account, you don't need to worry about loose ends

I can't remember if you are doing carryon only. If so, you might get a luggage scale and practice packing so that you meet any airline weight requirements.

suze

Well you are already ahead of what I'd have done!

I don't do anything except plane ticket & make sure I have my passport, money, ATM/credit cards & my hotel reservations. I do and plan everything else day-by-day after I arrive Europe.

As for packing, since it's a long trip and you'll be moving around so much, simply pack for 1 week and know you'll do some laundry by hand or at a service a few times along the way. Easy.

MomDDTravel

mms LOL - that would be dh's fear


I keep getting the HOW much money IS this costing??? I am doing a spread sheet. Yikes.

Suze - one week it will be.

As far as the carry on - I would really prefer to if possible. We shall see.

gruezi

Hi Dawn,

I bet you are more organized than you think. You still have time and you're not traveling in the height of the tourist season. Plus, you are experienced and that means not so much planning is necessary.

Print a calendar off the internet and pencil in something for each day and see where you still need plans or a reservation. Then you have several weeks to fill in one thing a day. It will all be done before you know it.

I suspect all the other worries and stress have taken some of the wind out of your sails. Once you get back into the travel side of Fodor's your excitement and energy will build again.

Packing - well, jeans and layers with a warm polar fleece will do it for almost everywhere for you and your daughter. I would spend this week deciding on shoes and making sure you both own them. If you don't, buy them and start wearing them soon. Everything else you probably already have or can get in September. I pick a color theme and stick with it with some pretty scarves thrown in. Say black and tan, or brown and light blue as the basics. One pair of knit dress black pants can take you across Europe...

My dear old dad always had this advice, "what can't you replace easily once you are there? Eyeglasses, prescriptions, money, passport - everything else is just extras so don't worry if you forget something."

Well, you know all this!!

I'm so glad you are going and I'm getting excited for you!

gruezi

Fodorite018

Dawn--lol! I agree with all the other advice as well. You might want to make note of things you absolutely must see so you don't forget. When you are traveling around it is easy to do. Also, make note of which places are closed on which days.

MomDDTravel

good advice Gruezi - yes, I do feel like the wind has been sucked out of my sails... I hardly even feel excited.

Dh is started to moan a little about me being gone that long... I did not really expect that.

I like the idea of printing off the calendar and making notes of what is closed etc. Need to do that.

I think we are going to have to pass on the ice caves outside of Salzburg - I do not think dd's foot is going to be able to handle it. It still swells on occasion - so we are going to have to take it slow.

I will do a trail run - my suitcase is WAY too heavy.

afterall

Like your style MomDDTravel.

But who is "dd"? Dear daughter perhaps?

Much better to have "gaps" in your plans, imho. Go and savour and fly by the seat of your pants - as long as the important things aren't forgotten - passport, tix, money - then you are free to live a little dangerously here and there.

MomDDTravel

dear daughter

Yes, I am wondering if I want some gaps but it makes me a little nervous with an 11 year old.

basingstoke2

I see that you have Joop's Hotel in Haarlem on your list. When we were in Haarlem in May, there was a sign on the Ambassador Hotel saying that Joops was now part of their hotel, so you may also want to look at Ambassador Hotel reviews to help decide. We stayed at Stempel's Hotel located just around the corner from the Ambassador and loved it as we did Haarlem. You may want to take a look at Stempel's too.

MomDDTravel

Stempels was/is my first choice and remains booked for the dates I need. I keep checking back and will actually as long as I can cancel my other. I am looking forward to Haarlem VERY much.

gruezi

Hi Dawn,

Gaps are good. And so is down time.

I am guilty of thinking, "when will I ever be in Haarlem again?" and then trying to fit in everything on my wish list.

Well, our kids have their whole lives to be in Haarlem again, so they don't have our sense of urgency or our energy level for certain things.

Same thing with beautiful scenery. It's an acquired taste. You have to be over 21 to care about looking at scenery out a train window. Actually, my husband is over 50 (soon) and he still doesn't care!

My daughter and I tried to just "hang out" and eat good food the last time we went to Paris. It was a lot more fun then the 1st time when we had to see everything.

Okay, I'm way past my bedtime... jetlag...sigh...

gruezi

MomDDTravel

am guilty of thinking, "when will I ever be in Haarlem again?" and then trying to fit in everything on my wish list.
---
Sometimes when you write - I really think I could have typed it... I definately am guilty of this...

Will try not to do it too much on this trip with dd... who would have thought I would be returning to Florence a year and half later..not me!

MomDDTravel

well... I called delta today on my flights - I only seemed to have my dd's confirmation. While on the phone it was discovered that my flight home had been canceled. Oh boy.

I ended up changing my flight to come home 5 nights earlier - it will cut out most of my time in London. I could not get them to change it to me coming home from Salzburg. I have been having major concerns/stress/fears about being gone for 5 weeks - it is closer to 4 weeks now - not much of a difference but perhaps a good idea.

gruezi

Dawn,

And London will still be there next year...

Perhaps some of your reluctance about the trip will dissipate now that it's just a tiny bit shorter.

Sometimes these things do happen for a reason...

We head to Dachau Friday - I'll let you know all about it. Do you worry about your daughter there? She is a bit young.

gruezi

MomDDTravel

let me know what you think. Everything I have read says 12 and older. She will be 11 and a half - we have done a lot of reading and research and she has been touched/affected by it. Nothing will be like being there of course.

I am thinking to change my flight if I can from Salzburg or munich and fly right into LHR and just spend the night at the airport the night before our flight.

suze

If you recall way back at the beginning of your planning, some of us were kindly suggesting that this trip was kind of long ;-)

As far as packing, that should be the easy part! Moving around fairly frequently, you won't want to have too much with you. I'd choose what suitcase you'll use now (a little one) and put it someone separate where you can gradually start gathering things you plan to take. You can tweak it as you think of things.

gruezi

Dawn,

My 14-year-old and I will play it by ear and maybe just see some parts while the 17-year-old visits with Dad. That's why I wanted to do this when my husband could come along. He has been and has said it is pretty disturbing.

From everything I've heard, 11 might be young, but only you know your child. I know my little one could definitely not handle it at that age. She is really sensitive. The older one couldn't either.

But, they are 2 girls without brothers, so perhaps a bit more sheltered than your daughter with her older male siblings. I think this does make a difference. I had 5 brothers and so I'm a lot tougher than my girls are.

I will let you know what I think after this weekend.

g.

suze

You can weigh your suitcase using your bathroom scale. I try to keep mine at about 25-28 lbs. max.