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Travel Plans

A bit of a departure today (haha)…as I am packing for a trip here! I’m heading to Germany to visit the diva in her habitat 😁

She has plans for many fun things to do during my visit…partly in an attempt to lure me over there permanently LOL, but mostly because she is an excellent host and tour guide!

We will be walking A LOT, and I’ll be staying with her in her 5th floor walk-up apartment so I’ll get plenty of exercise to compensate for eating my way through Germany. So. Many. Tasty. Things.

For most of what we do…visiting gardens, museums, cafes, parks, more cafes, more parks, shopping, etc, I’ll need comfortable casual clothes.  And REALLY comfortable casual shoes!

We may do one or two potentially dressier outings, so I’ll need something for that.

The weather is supposed to be a gorgeous mid to high 70’s and slightly cooler in the evenings. 

Europe in general and certainly where she is in Berlin, does not feel the need, thankfully, to air condition everything to death like we do here. So I will take some light wraps for cooler evenings, but I won’t need to dress for indoor arctic conditions!  Yay!

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I’m taking my favorite carry on and everywhere bag (my review here) on the plane and I bought the matching mid size expandable suitcase and an inexpensive duffel bag to bring filled with more of the diva’s clothes to check. 

The duffel bag will stay with her, my suitcase will come home with me filled with treats requested by family members and any treasures I happen upon!

I also have air tags going in all my luggage pieces so I can keep track of them easily. 

Air tags are essentially GPS tracking chips about the size of a quarter (the same technology that is in all the apple products) sold separately to attach to whatever items you want to be able to find…think wallets, cars (to find where you parked), keychains, or luggage!

There is something comforting about sitting on a plane and seeing the dots that represent my luggage showing up under my feet in the ‘find my’ app before takeoff!

I’m always paranoid about the airlines losing my luggage even though I’ve only experienced that once or twice in my life and even then it eventually showed up.

I generally travel with only carry-on.  I am a ninja packer and can get a whole weeks worth of clothes, several pairs of shoes, and all my technology in my carry on baggage!  I’m good, but even better with the help of the packing cubes I have that go with my luggage set.

But this time I’ll need to check bags full of diva shoes and gowns and miscellaneous vintage hats (we’ve got to adorn her new bedroom walls with those! For more pictures of the room where we first displayed them, and the ingenious magnetic mural we used, click here!)

What I’m packing in my suitcase

The sidewalks in many of the cute places we’ll be are cobblestone, so not conducive to my go-to pumps. 

I’ll definitely take my super comfortable propet sneakers, and equally comfortable and cute scalloped stretch  sketchers black flats.  These are the flats that have walked MILES of trade show floors  and showrooms at KBIS and High Point! I have them in a neutral mocha color too which I’ll probably take to go with my lighter clothes.

And for any dressier occasions, I’ll take a pair of wedge heeled sandals.

For clothes, I’ll be taking both my long and Capri length leggings with pockets.  I LIVE in these leggings because they have a convenient place for my cell phone which I carry all. the. time. since it is my GPS and my camera as well!

I’ll take my favorite inexpensive and very flattering handkerchief hem tunic tops.  These are long enough to cover all the important real estate because I am in the ‘leggings are not pants’ camp 😂. I bought one these on a whim from Amazon and liked it so much, I bought it in 6 different colors!.  I’ll take my black shawl collar fleece cardigan to throw over this ensemble for chillier evenings.

For dressier occasions, I can dress up my new Tuckernuck Mabel maxi dress, or my inexpensive sleeveless maxi dress.

I have assorted other outfits under consideration…a swing top, basic t-shirts to pair with jeans or  Banana Republic wide leg linen crop pants with all important pockets, I have a versatile and cute jean jacket and white safari jacket, a white cropped cardigan, a versatile striped cotton shirt, and various linen shirt options.

For accessories, I generally do minimal jewelry, especially when traveling, (and I can always borrow from the diva!) so I’ll probably just take my pearl earrings, my watch, and a bracelet or two.

And I’ll take my Kate spade crossbody bag in black (and maybe one in taupe).  I love a crossbody bag for touring because it keeps your belongings safe whilst your hands are free to shop or shoot pictures!,

I’ll possibly include a pashmina shawl or scarf, and, of course, I can’t forget my sunglasses!

Can’t wait!  My next post will hopefully be from a cafe somewhere in Germany!

Happy Vacation!