We’ve been ready for this trip for WEEKS. All of those important details that everyone freaks out about? I handled those months ago. I don’t think I need to read another trite blog post about the importance of packing ziplock bags and compression socks.

Instead of the oh-my-god-could-you-be-more-obvious travel tips, here are a couple things I’ve stumbled upon:

• Book the Travelers Lounge. We have a very long layover in London-Gatwick before our jumper flight to Rome. To help beat the jet lag, we have planned on buying a day pass to the travelers lounge. After 7 hours of sleeping in a chair, sleeping horizontal and not having to worry about my luggage sounds good. We can also use this layover time to buy International SIM cards, Oyster cards, get cash and freshen up before our next flight.
• One Day at a Time. I had a moment last week when I was trying to map all of the metro stops for everything on our itinerary, forgetting that the Paris metro system is vast and not exactly straightforward. There was also no accounting for distance scale, how much we’ll be walking around, or weather. Instead of trying to plan out my every step, I stopped and decided to just take logistical planning one day at a time. Our hotels and apartment all have WiFi and the SIM cards give us Google Maps. The purpose of this trip is really to take everything in. If we spend a few extra minutes waiting for a train, it’s not a big deal in the long run.
• Nice Americans. There are so many movies that show American tourists in foreign countries asking for Ranch dressing and refusing to speak the native language. Hate to tell you, but this is completely true. Be humble. You’re in someone else’s hometown. Plus, your traveling to experience somewhere other than America. Don’t try to Americanize everything.
• Plan Dude Stuff. Europe has always been the place where I wanted to go shopping, look at priceless art and eat pastry all day. However, that is probably not what Troy had in mind. So I’ve planned some things that are more “manly”: A Gentleman’s Tea in London, whiskey and specialty cocktail bars, hole-in-the-wall restaurants and jazz clubs.

No surprise, but I won’t be posting anything for the next two weeks. In the meantime, check out the instagram @CoxswainPatti.