This winter I will be going to the city of lovers… with my significant other! After two trips together to the States (New York City for New Years Eve and California for the CSUN Conference), my partner Matt and I will be embarking on our first trip abroad together – and what could be more romantic than France?! With his cap and my beret, we could name the trip The Adventures of the the Black Beret and Grey Cap Abroad, but that would be a mouthful.
We are each bringing one carry-on bag and a ‘purse’ (ie: large tote bag that passes as a purse). My packing list is very similar to that of my trip last summer packing for Germany, Prague, and Iceland,
Here are some new additions and amendments to previous trips:
Picnic
We have promised to bring home French butter, and will likely be bringing back some cheese too. So, we will be packing a cooler bag, small ice packs (note ‘small’ – we are traveling with carry-on baggage only), and a ziplock bags. This will also be handy if we have any leftover food we need to take between Paris and Bordeaux on the 3 hour train ride. Picnic-en-transit!
Airline clothes
I’ve decided to set aside a specific set of clothes to wear on the plane to avoid the anxiety of “Does this shirt smell?” when in close quarters with others for an extended period of time.
Extra shoes
I have very sensitive feet and despite having the best footwear all my life, I still end up in anguish after a lot of walking. So, I will be bringing 3 pairs of shoes to switch between to distribute the pain evenly (ie: blisters). I also have new orthopedics and baby powder packed!
Laundry soap
As there are two of us, we expect to do at least one load of laundry. Although I had bought a backpack washer, the high cost of European laundromats is more palatable when there are two individuals to split the cost (and fill the washer) between. To reduce cost of buying soap at a premium, I brought one packet of dry laundry soap.
