On Our Way: September 26

September 26 2015

I haven't been blogging much recently. This is because Helen and I were in Europe from September 26^th until November 1^st. Just no time to organize my thoughts to put on the web. I have been keeping a log of sorts and will be publishing from there now that we're home. On each I will have a title and an appropriate date.

So back in September....

The bus came right on time, and zipped us to town, where we climbed off, and then onto another that did the longer drive to the ferry. As always, Helen ran into somebody she knew and enjoyed a lovely conversation.

There was a short wait for the boat, but nothing major. On board we picked up a hot breakfast. Again, Helen found friends for us to chat with, and to catch up with; very pleasant.

Off the boat, and into a huge line that couldn't possibly fit onto the double-length city bus it was loading into. The line didn't fit, but we did, as we'd hurried off the boat with just this in mind. The doors closed on a standing-room-only crowd, leaving many behind. We had seats due to our rapid transfer.

So how does one move from ferry to bus so quicky hauling a month's worth of luggage? Simple, we are travelling ninja-light.

We each have one carry on, wheeled bag that fits all of the current, very-restrictive rules. Sometimes bigger ones get ignored by airlines, but sometimes not. Fully regulation bags are darn tiny.

In addition, passengers are allowed one other “personal item.” This is supposed to be things like purses, or laptop bags. We each take small luggage totes that fully exploit the allowable dimensions, and that latch on top of our wheelie bags.

It still isn't much luggage space, so we don't take much. Not counting what was on my body, I took 3 underpants, 4 pairs of socks, 1 pair of pants, a pair of shorts, 2 shirts, a hoodie, and a pair of sandals. As our trip was 35 days, it means that my shirts would all have to be worn and washed 12 times each.

All of the clothing except the socks and hoodie were made of fancy, quick-dry fabric. The usual procedure was to sink-wash everything before bed each night. Some items would be dry the next morning, but most required a second day to be ready to wear.

Turns out that next time I'll take even less. I like my sandals, but the high-quality runners I wore onto the plane got worn 90% of the time. Next time the sandals stay home, as will a few other things.

Our Vancouver-side bus hit construction in the city, but we were plenty early. We got off at the Burrard stop, and walked a half dozen blocks to catch our airport train. I love the train. I also love our tiny bags.

No airport hassles at all. With just small bags, we don't have to visit any desks or their lineups. We just headed straight for our gate with our home-printed boarding passes.