Where we are headed

The time has arrived for our trip to begin. So where are we going?

We head to Fort Lauderdale, where we will board the Celebrity Constellation. First up is crossing the Atlantic to Rome with ports of call in Madeira, Gibraltar and Cartagena. Staying on the Constellation we will sail Italy and Greece stopping in Sicily, Malta, Rhodes, Mykonos, Athens, Santorini and the Amalfi Coast ending back in Rome. After leaving the ship behind we will start a train trip across Europe where we will tour Venice, Turin, Paris, Bruges and Amsterdam. From Amsterdam we will fly to Singapore for a few days and then on to Japan to tour Tokyo and Kyoto.

Today started in Southport, NC with one last check that we had passports and credit cards. Not much else is really necessary, though we did pack a few essentials.

One bag and one backpack each

The toughest part of packing light is finding room for your clothes around the electronics you plan to bring. It says something about our priorities that we had a harder time eliminating an iPad than a sweater. YouTube was a great resource for tips on packing light and bundling your clothes into a carry-on. Who knew there were so many ways to pack a suitcase. In the end we should be fine in both spring and summer weather and have enough tech to blog throughout our trip.

Here is our general packing list (pretty much the same for both of us):

2 pair of long pants
2 pair of shorts
6 t-shirts
2 collared shirts
2 polo shirts
6 pair of socks
Gym shorts/shirts
Night clothes
Underwear
Bathing suit
Flip flops
Walking shoes
Sneakers
Light fleece
Rain Jacket
Toiletries
First Aid Kit
Flashlights (you know there are more of these than I can count)
Camera
Backup/Sunglasses
Enough electronics to put a man on Mars

We are spending the night in Raleigh and fly out to Fort Lauderdale in the morning.

Now to the specifics.  Current position: 35.90 N, 78.83 W.  At 1pm, 69 degrees under sunny skies.

While Elvis did play Raleigh on Feb 8th 1956, he has not been seen in these parts recently.

Cheers
P&J

Setting off once again

Hi Everyone,

After over 20 years in the Washington D.C. area and nine years since our last big trip, we are headed off for a little traveling.

We always considered ourselves to be "part time" residents of the Washington area and now it is time to test that theory with a two month trip around the world.  First, we will need some luggage.

These will do fine.

We are leaving the D.C. area and heading to points South and East. Different from our sailing adventure (see the 2007 entries in the blog), this time it is a combination of planes, trains and ships with a lot of walking in between.  Hopefully we won't end up like this.

At least it is sunny.

We have another week in Virginia, then a couple of weeks in N.C.  We start our travels at the end of March and return sometime near the end of May.

We are looking forward to sharing the trip with you and hope you will enjoy the ride as we continue our journey to find Mr. Presley.

Cheers,

Pat and James