Random thoughts/reflections/best practices from this trip:
1.) Traveling around the Fall Equinox can make for some challenges when figuring out what to bring. It was so mild during the first week of the trip, and I had travel dresses that were great for wandering around (such as in the photo at the top of the post). However, things cooled down in the 2nd half of the trip and I found myself wearing the same green Columbia pants for the last 4 days. The other long pants I brought were cream colored linen, great for being on the plane and train but after one day of wandering around Amsterdam, they got pretty dirty. I didn’t wear them for other than the traveling days after that.
2.) The humidity in Amsterdam was something else. Apparently I took for granted a new hairbrush I had when it was in Colorado. I could run it through my dry hair at home with no problem, but I couldn’t do it it in Amsterdam. I had to brush my hair in “shifts”. You can see how my hair looked in the first photo. And how often I wore my hair up in the photos.
3.) We ate so much cheese, chocolate, heavy beef/pork dishes, fries slathered with mayonnaise (see photo), and of course drank so much beer! Yet, we did not gain ANY weight on this trip. What’s the difference??? Sure, we did a lot of walking, but I think there’s more to the story. That’s part of why Tim’s a food science major. He wants to be part of the solution to the American diet problem.
4.) Souvenirs. Due to how much “special” clothing we had to take on this trip — lederhosen, dirndl, evening gown, tuxedo — we had to be *very* careful with how much weight our souvenirs would occupy. For Dave and me, we mainly seek out magnets and Christmas ornaments: lightweight and small. All the ornaments I got on this trip were fragile, so I had to hand-carry them in my backpack for the trip home. I was saddened we couldn’t bring home the “siroopwafel liquor” we saw in Gouda. It was a big bottle and quite heavy.
5.) Some of my favorite travel aids while on our trip:
– Vacuum bags. Dave and I bought some vacuum bags for this trip, for the first time. After lots of research, we elected to go with this brand and were not disappointed. All my clothing, for two weeks, that didn’t go on a hangar in the garment bag could fit into the zipper bag and compress down pretty tiny.
– Fanny pack. Seen in the first 3 photos. At the last second, meaning…in the middle of the night before heading to the airport, I woke up and tossed a Cotopaxi fanny pack into the suitcase. I had gotten it at a “Favorite Things” holiday party last year (Google that concept, it’s a lot of fun!). I had only used it a couple times this past year, but it proved absolutely indispensable on this trip. Not only could I easily fit my wallet and passport, but it also fit my sunglasses case, a small spray can of sunscreen, snacks, a 16 oz. water bottle, and a spare battery/charging cable for my phone. Essentials for being away from the hotel/AirBnB for 8+ hours.
(During Oktoberfest, when wearing my dirndl, I switched to a much-smaller Lululemon fanny pack due to bag size restrictions.)
– Travel laundry. In Munich, our hotel was across the street from a 24/7 laundromat. I brought a Ziploc sandwich baggie with some laundry supplies — two travel packs of Tide detergent and a travel clothesline. We were able to sneak in a load of laundry at the halfway point of our trip, but the dryers were expensive. I “mostly dried” everything and then was able to string up a travel clothesline I got in 2022 for our 3 week Europe trip. I have recommended this travel clothesline many times over, and continue to recommend it today.
6.) Finally, I’ve received some inquiries about the Oktoberfest experience we do. Contrary to 90% of the other travel Dave and I have done over the years, we rely on a tour company in this case: Bucket List Events. This company prides itself on reserving seats/tickets at some of the highly-sought out events in the world — the Running of the Bulls, Kentucky Derby, Olympic Games — and making them available for smaller groups, couples, even solo travelers…for whom it’s more difficult to arrange these events directly. We chose this company in part because one of the hotels they offer is almost as close as you can get to the main entrance of the event. This is the 2nd time we’ve used this company and have been very happy.