After multiple discussions with my mom (most of which involve me begging her to not overpack because we will be staying in 7 different hotels in 13 nights, so we'll be moving around a lot; "They DO have the capacity to launder clothing in Italy, you know" "For the love of God, Mom, you don't need to bring your straightening iron. Who are you trying to impress exactly?"), I've made a list of items that I'll need to buy before the trip.
Not to sound like a broken record here, but I really am trying to save some money before the trip since I'm sure I'll be spending some cash - I got 8 hotel nights for free using various points, so Mom has offered to pay for the other 6 nights, provided that I pick up the train tickets. And though she'll probably be picking up more of the food expenses than I will, I fully expect to shop my brains out (Note to Self: Make Sure You Find a UPS Store Before You Leave Rome). I'd like some leather goods from Florence, and of course we're also hitting up the designer outlets. So currently, I'm trying to only buy bare minimum necessities until October.
But that doesn't mean that I won't be splurging on my Italy supplies. You all know me better than that. So, without further ado, to keep you entertained, here's some of the stuff I'm planning to purchase.
First, and I have no picture of this, I will be getting the Italy/Greece street maps for my Garmin. I have no doubt that we'll be getting lost a lot, and throwing the Garmin into "pedestrian mode" and typing in "colosseum" or "gelato" is going to be very helpful. We will, of course, look like complete tourists when we need to use it, but I figured we wouldn't fit in anyway. Our walking shoes, general attire, and my pale skin and blond hair are going to scream "WE'RE AMERICANS!" regardless. But I'm hoping by then, my Italian will be solid enough that I can garner at least some respect among the locals.
Speaking of walking shoes, clearly I'm going to need a new pair for the trip, as I am expecting to walk many many miles every day...both for exploring as well as "I need to try to work off this pasta" purposes. I'm always partial to New Balance (what with my fatty feet) and from my research, I'm thinking these will be the winner. Extra support and cushioning, lightning-dry technology, and specifically designed for speed (Marge and I tend to be speed-walkers). Also, of course, they are pink. Yay!
This is probably another tourist give away, but from my reading and discussions with friends, it would seem that I should buy an across the shoulder purse. We'll be screaming tourist, and most thievery goes on at the major tourist sites, so this is probably a safe bet. I will of course need something big enough to hold the GPS, my guidebook, water, sunscreen, and my wallet. So it needs to be pretty large. And, naturally, it needs to be from Coach. I really like this one - the color seems good for fall, and it's quite large. And, when I get back to the CLT, I can remove the shoulder strap and use the regular handle. Score.
This is a purchase that will be good for Italy, but also that I will likely use for a very very long time. I'm going to be doing a lot of traveling, mostly by train, over there (I'm not concerned about the flights because first class comes with free on-demand movies and TV), so I'm going to need reading material. And because books take up space, I refuse to bring any. Enter the Amazon Kindle. I've only heard good things, AND books are all $9.99 or less to download which makes it cheaper than Borders. And bonus: I have no more room for books in my house, so this is going to be very helpful. And also cause me to spend a lot of money on books. Oh well.
Other than the above (and perhaps a solid pair of khakis) I'll be good to go! Hope everyone has a good weekend!
1 comment:
Oooh... Italy is so much fun!!!
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