Getting Ready

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Welcome to this travel blog for our Europe trip 2012.

We are now one week away from departure - and getting very excited about the adventure that lies ahead. Our front room looks like a bomb site with clothing and other bits and pieces of travel gear being assembled in rough piles. We are both very conscious of trying to travel as light as possible and are working on the principle; "lay out what you think you'll need and then leave half behind".

We've been laying out clothing knowing that we need to cover all the climate bases. It will be cold when we arrive in Paris but we will be moving south quite quickly and the seasons will change during our stay. "Layering" is the buzz-word - stuff you can peel on and off as the conditions demand. Both of us are concentrating on blacks and browns, for maximum wear between washes, and on quick drying fabrics for convenience.

I (Stephen) am taking a folding bicycle (a Birdy Blue) and have been trying to get some milage on it for my own fitness but also to give the new bike a "shake-down" so that any issues arise before we go and I can get some familiarity with its mechanicals. It's my first such bike and things are a little different from the more conventional style of cycle.

Our days are highly structured at the moment as we tick off to-dos before we go. Sorting out health insurance and phone contract suspensions, dental and medical appointments for general check-ups, seeing friends and relatives etc etc. It feels like work! All this will change of course and we know that good organisation pre-departure will return dividends on the trip - that's the plan anyway.

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