Packing and Planning

We’re taking a ten day sailing/cycling vacation in Greece this summer, and lately I’ve spent most of my free time cycling to try to get in decent shape for the hilly terrain and also reading up on what to see while there.  It’s been fun to re-read Greek mythology and to learn a few Greek phrases.

We succumbed to a Great Courses sale flyer and purchased a lecture series on Greece. While we haven’t watched all 24 lectures, we have enjoyed quite a few on Athens and the islands, where we’ll be spending our time. Since I approach a big vacation just as I’d approach a work project, I’ve made notes on what to see as part of my comprehensive task list.

An equally important part of the plan is what to pack. To me, that’s half the fun. Imagine the challenge of taking enough clothes for ten days in one carry-on bag and a backpack. Thankfully, the weather is warm, and the clothes are not too bulky. We’ll take detergent and a clothesline so we can wash our cycling gear on the sailboat, but we still need multiple cycling shorts and tops.

Bike Tours Direct provides a suggested packing list, and we’ve learned a bit from two similar trips we’ve taken over the years. We know we need clothes for sailing, for evenings on the islands and for touring Athens for two days. I’m pretty organized, perhaps too organized, and I’ve planned mix and match bottoms and tops.  Everything is light weight and can be layered with a sweater or windbreaker.  It’s all also light colored, as I’d stand out like a sore thumb in the islands if I were dressed in red or black, two of my favorite colors.

Sunscreen, a floppy hat and a ball cap are essentials for this locale.  The ball cap is mostly to slap on your head when you remove your cycling helmet, before others notice just how dreadful your helmet hair looks. For sailing and shopping--err, I mean touring--the towns, a broad brimmed hat is best.  After much searching, I finally found a white floppy hat  at REI with both sun protection and a chinstrap.  Hats are prone to fly off when you’re sailing, so the strap is a must.

Once the essentials are taken care of, it’s time to consider style.  Taking a pair of Capri leggings and several big white tops gives me a look I love--slim on the bottom, flowing or big on top.  Adding a short skirt and pair of khaki capris combined with tank tops and light weight sweaters for layering pretty much rounds out the packing list.  

You know, off course, that I didn’t have everything I envisioned just waiting in my closet, so I hit the mall, the local consignment shop and T.J. Maxx to find a few things I had to have.  Now, I’m all set…at least I keep trying to tell myself that. Note to self:  Stop shopping.  

That carry-on bag and back pack are looking smaller all the time.  Cross your fingers that everything fits.