By Chris Gemignani — Aug 3, 2018

Preparation

So how well did we pack this time?

Things we missed.

Hat for Buds
A second power brick.
More USB cables
A fourth plugin adapter (we have three)
A little tripod for a cell phone.
Sunglasses for all. We bought some in Munich. There has been many many many hours of sun.

Things we improved.

We took two USB multi chargers. These are super valuable. On our Italy trip we only took single chargers.
Cell phone cameras have improved so much that we’re only using cell phones. This is a huge improvement in simplicity.
We are using Google Fi for cell phone coverage. This worked perfectly right out of the box. Overall, this saved several hours of time that we spent in Italy buying and recharging SIM cards. We also probably spent $200 in Italy and data coverage. We’ve spent that money this trip on buying extra train tickets.
Kindles and Kindle apps on phones have been hugely helpful.
Wool socks: Buds has some pairs of wool socks and while they are too warm, they are excellent at not chafing.
RX bars or their ilk were a good addition this trip. They travel great, are healthy, impervious to heat, and all of us are willing to eat them.

Things we don’t need.

There’s been absolutely no need for the jackets we have so far. We possibly could have looked at the weather forecast and bought warmer closthes if we needed them.
Similarly there’s been too many pants and not enough shorts/capris.
Clothes that aren’t dark colours. dark colours are the best at hiding the inevitable food stains, sweat stains.
Buds brought two pairs of shoes that could have brought one and bought a pair of German sandals here.

Total electronics load