Phoenix, Arizona – Danube River Trip Preparation

Grand Danube Prologue: A warm welcome to the blog for all of the fellow travelers on this adventure. I hope that you enjoy my recollections of the days’ events and the photos.  In a few months I will download the trip blog in a product “Blog2Print” and print a permanent record of my memories.  Please add your personal comments as it will add to the specialness.  I date the blog posts with the date that the events occurred and keep things generally in a time sequence order.  I’ve kept copies of receipts to answer the “how much” questions.  The local prices don’t change, but the exchange rate does.  There is a currency conversion post to use as a reference. Thank you for joining the trip and this re-trip.

I am packed and ready to board a plane on Thursday.  I’m trying some new ideas on this trip.  My clothes are all folded following the guidelines of Marie Kondo in “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up”.  I liked the folding methods because you can see everything that is packed.  It is not stacked.

Suitcase – A Rick Steves model (no affiliation).  This is a soft sided carry on that has hidden backpack straps for easy carrying.  It is recommended for European trips where there are a lot of cobblestone walkways to negotiate.  Suitcases with wheels have difficulty on the cobblestones.  

Suitcase Contents – I am going as light as possible on this trip.  

Slacks – one black pair, wearing
Long dress - comfy and dressy enough for evening dinner.
Tops – Casual: wear one and bring three.  In different colors red, copper, gold and black.
Dress top – Black dress top and light weight jacket. This will go with the slacks and can also be worn over the dress.
Sweater – light weight, black
Jacket – light weight, water repellant, sleeves remove to make it a vest.  This is a ScottEVest (no affiliation) product and I love it with all of the pockets.
Underwear – three bottom and one top.
Socks – two pair, black.  Wicking from REI (no affiliation).  Not new…
Shoes – one pair black tie low cut shoes and one ballet for evening, both VivoBarefoot (no affiliation)
Gear – Tripod, Canon 60D with wide angle lens, telephoto lens, remote, new Sony Point and Shoot with 20x telephoto capabilities. Small Acer laptop for digital photo storage. iPhone 6. European plug converter. Power cables for all gear.
Extra luggage bag – REI product that unfolds to hold all of my clothes for the return flight.
Berlitz Eastern Europe Phrase Book
Zipper Pouch for travel documents, use to collect receipts, daily agendas, etc. all in one place.
Minimum amount of toiletries.  Hairbands to control my wild hair as I travel. One Purex laundry sheet with both wash, softener…cut in half. I took my deodorant out of the container and put it in to a Ziploc bag.  The goal was less weight in packaging.
Personal Bag – Rick Steves travel bag.  Unzips to create an addition 1.5” of capacity.

I will report on the success or failure.

One more note – In preparation of a potential conversation in Budapest, I have been listening to SyberVision Pimsleur Hungarian language CDs.  I have some free time in Budapest and hope to be able to put my new language skills to good use.

Oh, and I put my contact information as my locked screen photo in case I lose my phone.