Three Weeks and Counting

In three weeks, I will be in Denmark. In three weeks, I will be eating seafood. In three weeks, I will be spending 24/7 with my entire family. In three weeks, I will be on an adventure that I can only anticipate now and hardly seems like reality. In just three weeks.

I'm looking forward to hearing the Danish language, to seeing Carl Bloch's paintings, to tasting all the native Danish foods. I'm excited to immerse myself in family history and see the land of my ancestors as I try to get a sense of this place and its beauty.

I want to go. I've never had such an opportunity in my life to travel somewhere this beautiful without having to do all the legwork to get prepared (thanks, Dad!). I'm really looking forward to seeing how this country affected my father when he lived here in the sixties. I want to see it through his eyes.

Right now, I'm immersed in details. What to pack, what to wear, what to do, and what to bring and how to pack all of it into one carry-on and a backpack. I've never been the world's lightest packer, but I'm determined to improve my record this time around. I especially was interested in this entry on the Four-Hour Work Week blog on how to pack extremely lightly.

We (my family--siblings, spouses, parents) traveled to France and England a few years ago and we each only took a carry-on piece of luggage and backpack. That was very successful. It really increased our mobility since we did a lot of traveling on subways and trains and it especially helped in European cars. (You try to fit 12 people and all of their luggage into 2 European vans with little luggage capacity and you will see what I mean). Carryons were essential. It also released a ton of pressure when it came to keeping track of everything in hotel rooms and on the road. Less stuff=less to worry about. I highly recommend it.

So, here's to packing and packing light. I'll let you know if I'm successful. :)