Tag: Sicily 2025

We are at the airport and our experience thus far has been ok. This is our view and kinda describes the mood while doing the actual art of traveling. A blank wall until we get there. My luggage is out of balance and even though my feet have disappeared it has been replaced with the struggle to keep my suitcase from acting drunk. It’s 10:37 and we board at 1:50. So we wait and stare.

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.

Andiamo! (Let’s go) in Italian.

~Diane

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.

We’ll see how this goes.

Chao,

~Diane

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.