tomorrow, the journey begins to amsterdam, paris and sitges, a beach town south of barcelona.  i envy those whose greatest concern with packing their bags is making sure that tickets, passport and a change or two of underwear have found their way into a modest, carry-on bag.  i am not that sort of packer.

a friend gave me a ‘travel checklist’, three pages that i followed to the letter.  and, i have managed to cram all of  the carefully listed items into one full size bag, one carry on and another small bag disguised as a purse.  i feel overloaded, over prepared and over dressed, yet somehow, i am certain that as soon as i arrive at our destinations, i will have nothing to wear and will have no need to call upon the things i have stowed away ‘just in case’.  its taken two full days to pack and sort these bags…a timeframe that could have been better spent in other ways, i’m sure…

in the old days as a traveling hippie, i could put my life into a smallish backpack.  needs were few and whatever i didn’t have, i could scrounge up or locate from the kindness of strangers.  aside from a bedroll or sleeping bag, the most important item to carry was a pen and a notebook, so that i could jot down the words that have always been bouncing around in my head…and for this journey, i have two notebooks and two pens–just in case, since my waning memory wants to be able to snap to so that i can recall and discuss what my senses have seen and absorbed of these cultures, this incredible art and history..

this is a journey that was given to me as a gift…and i cannot muster up the words to express the gratitude and excitement cursing through my veins as i write this out…now, if i can only lift this bag and get it into the car….