Leaving on a jet plane

 I’m getting ready for a vacation trip

This is the first time I’ve had to do it by myself. So many little details that we use to share.

I leave Friday – Fly to Miami, change planes, fly to London, change planes, and fly to Budapest. I start out at 8:15am and arrive at my final destination 12:30 the next day. I’ll meet my friends in London since they are starting out in New Jersey. The tour is nine days by motor coach. We also considered a river cruise, but Bill was opposed to that because he felt there wouldn’t be enough to do in the little towns that the cruise stopped at. Maybe my next vacation.

What will the temperature be like? Looks like 50-75. Uh oh. That’s a wide range and means layers of clothes. The booklet says bus can only take one piece of luggage per person – no carry-on! I have to have all the toiletries in my bag so there is more stuff than you would think for half of a couple. There are some things in the booklet I never would have thought of – bring wash cloths, soap and laundry detergent. Huh? American hair blowers are a no-no. A universal adapter for electronics is essential. I’ll bring my iPad and iPhone. Calls are expensive, $1.29 – $1.49 per minute, but it is only for emergency. Texts are 50 cents outgoing, 5 cents incoming. If I can get Wi-Fi, I will email. The bus is supposed to have Wi-Fi, but only for browsing, not downloading. That may mean I can’t send or receive emails.

Put a hold on newspapers and mail. Arrange for car service.

Money! We are going to three countries. Bill always dealt with the currency. He knew what currency and when and where to get it. He also knew what credit card(s) could be used. I read that we could use euros. Great. I ran to the bank and ordered some euros. They came in the next day. Uh, oh. I spoke to my friend, Maria (one of my travel companions) and she pointed out that although they use euros in Austria, if they take euros in the Czech Republic and Hungary they will charge you extra. Back to the bank to order Hungarian and Czech money. I also got a credit card with no conversion fee. If I run out of currency, the plan is to use a debit card at an ATM.

Bill was the one to deal with the excursions. Now I have to see what is being offered, figure out how much it costs, talk to my friends to see if they want to go and decide whether to go myself if they don’t want to take the same excursion.

I always get very stressed when getting ready for a trip. Now I have no one to holler at but myself. I am making a mess trying to pack. I guess I always did. But I am surprised by the amount of the mess. I think of myself as very organized. I’ve taken out much too much and laid it out all over the place and expect to whittle it down. I bought some inexpensive clothes that should travel well and are comfortable. I plan to bring a light down jacket that can double as a pillow on the planes. They said to bring hats and gloves. Really?

I played tennis this morning but will take the rest of the week off from pickleball and tennis. I don’t want to risk injury. I’ve only started playing again a couple of weeks ago, but I see a big difference in just the couple of weeks. Enough so that I plan on getting a better racquet. I bought a $25 racquet just to see if I could get back into it.

I’m a little scared, but mostly excited. I will miss Bill. I already do. We enjoyed traveling together. At least most of the time. There were exceptions. But even before a trip, sharing the excitement and the plans was a huge part of the experience.

I don’t expect to post next week, and will probably be late the week after. But I’ll be back.

Thanks for following,