It was the eleventh hour before I threw up the white flag on a pair of new shoes for our trip. You shouldn’t have to feel your feet (and associated pain) when your shoes are on. I try to select very carefully those vessels that will lead the way to unknown places but alas, I switched just before knowing that a week of them and only them (only shoes I packed) would distract me from, or even prevent me from enjoying this trip.
And so right after I made that choice my feet disappeared. Thankful I listened to my nagging brain thru the pain in my feet.
We traveled to Italy before with Globus. Went to Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Assisi, Rome and more and we discovered it could be done with just a back pack. Now 6 years later we are daring ourselves to do it again with some modifications.
Cubes and wheels. After our first trip to Italy and in between then and now we traveled to England and Ireland using our same method of back packs. It didn’t work. Two weeks before the England and Ireland trip my knee blew out and the extra weight on my knee and back caused Dan to hit an English Costco to purchase a suitcase we used and shown in our Alaska blog. But now that my knee is back to normal for my age we’re trying again.
Three Cubes with rolled up clothes and one cube for toiletries. Selecting travel pants, light weight blouses, and only two pair of shoes (yikes ladies) two extra pair of socks and undies. The stuff I would need to access while in flight is at the top of the bag like travel documents, a travel blanket, raincoat, neck pillow, and toiletry bag with Tylenol if needed. There is still room for snacks and gifts to bring home. It has wheels this time so we don’t have to carry it on our back.
One week from today we’ll be settling into our lodging in Palermo, Sicily! We have a seven day tour planned, including a day with a Local Guide around Ribera, where Diane’s Mom’s ancestors lived.
It’s gonna be a long long day. We’ve learned some things about long travel. Some do’s and don’ts if you will.
* Get travel pants and shirts. Both roll quite nicely and are so light weight. They don’t take up too much space in your suitcase and have more pockets w zippers than jeans. You need zipper pockets to secure paperwork, keys, phones and stuff to your person, especially when going thru security lines and where lines move quickly.
* Mark your suitcase with an identifier or get suitcases that stand out from a sea of gray and black suitcases. We watched our one suitcase go past us three times before we identified a small tape mark on top. I think I will have to spray paint a dot or decal image for next time.
* Ladies, don’t bring a big purse. It’ll weigh you down and with the other luggage it can get lost easily. If you can, wear a cross body purse so it’s always there. I shorten the strap so I can get it almost under my arm pit.
* If you can, limit the amount of clothes. If you can wear your pants, socks more than once and recycle your shirts for at least two days of use, do it.
* Put important documents in the same place everywhere you go. The shuffle of bags and things happens so frequently that without a consistent place on yourself it can get easily lost.
* Read reviews of hotels. 4 star here may not be 4 star there.
* Bring your patience. Especially where there are tourists. Wait staff is overwhelmed and understaffed. We spent a good amount of time waiting in what would result in less tips elsewhere. At the airport, two servers for two separate businesses. And one was training the other. A hot dog place and Cinnabon with only two people working. They are totally frazzled!
Uncle Joes Pizza
* Just because they are advertising doesn’t mean they’re good, or efficient, or fully staffed. We had to ask for a refund here cause I never received my second slice of my lunch deal. And it took forever for them to figure out how to refund it back to card.
* Wear comfortable shoes that support your ankles. I’m getting a new pair when I get home. Ankle soreness is the result when you don’t. And my heel is bruised.
* Take lots of pics. Especially if the trip is long. You won’t remember the details and pics will help remind you of what you did when.
* If you have pics taken on board ship that can be downloaded, do that before disembarking because they may only be available from the ship’s WiFi.
Gotta say I’ve seen a lot of young people here taking jobs in hospitality and tourism.
There are jobs here for you if you’d like to explore Alaska in your free time.
Opportunities to study abroad and earn some good money exist. We heard several times about young people who came here for better wages than at home.
They’re working hard in tourism serving people like us while we travel. We appreciate that.
There seem to be staffing shortages at the same time. We’ve been the invisible table at restaurants, been ignored after ordering and waiting for the rest of our order, been refunded for food we never received, and sat in the ZONE between being finished with our meal and waiting for the check to arrive.
That tells me that if you decide to come and work here you will WORK. You may be put in situations where you don’t know or have’t been trained. The businesses need you and don’t have time to train. Seems like Alaska hasn’t quite caught up again to post Covid slumps.
