From the gitgo

Already I've managed to nearly give myself a concussion in a bizarre luggage handle accident and pay far too much for a beer, and I've also encountered fellow 3-week travelers, people making bold personal style choices (see the pic) and a somewhat rude Frenchman.

This all at JFK. I'm not even of the plane yet.

(incidentally, anyone know - without looking it up - what this airport was called before it was JFK? Dad stumped me on that one.)

The packing and planning, save for one panic attack earlier today, went relatively well ... Once I decided to accept having wet feet and no traction and took the boots out of the bag. No rain, Blind Meloners!

I also made a partly successful attempt at getting work email on my phone, which is part brilliant but mostly idiotic. As a friend tells me, "you're on vacation!"

Over the next few weeks, I'll try to remember that. I also will try to blog now and then from a pc so I can add all the fun/absurd links throughout without it taking hours upon hours.

About an hour until my flight. Groovy.

Feeling drafty

NEW YORK -- The sixth round of the NFL draft is under way and I still have yet to be picked (even a punter has gone). I guess scouts didn't appreciate the video of me leading a late TD drive in the snow during a pickup game at a D-III school 12 years ago – while playing with a sprained ankle and while wearing a Bubby Brister hat.

 

Not sure which of those last two was the bigger handicap.

Viva Bubby.

... off a short cliff

On cab ride to LAX now. Driver is polite but completely psychotic. Blew a red, turned right from 2nd lane and almost caused spectacular accident -- in the first 1.5 miles!. Maybe he's mad that I prepaid online. This could be a short trip . . .

Forty clowns in a car

The awfully overpriced cool backpack with wheels has been purchased. So tonight's primary project was to actually pack it. Why pack so early, you might ask? I'm actually hitting NYC for a week (primarily work-related) before flying out, so assuming I find somewhere to do laundry right before I leave for Italy, what I bring to Manhattan will be what I bring to Rome.

Already had purchased a guide book, but on DM's advice, I checked out Rick Steves' site. He's got some good tips on there, and he goes on and on about packing light, packing light, packing light.

Then he provides his manifesto suggested list. Which has 57,364 things on it.

Oye.

So I go down the checklist, trying not to think about whether his suggested amounts of various clothing will be enough, but rather whether they'll all fit in my bag. And I already have most of what our buddy Rick says I'll need, partly due to a fun little drug store donation from my sis and sis-in-law. And lo and behold, I managed to fit everything in the bag.

But the question of whether it's enough still haunts my soul and threatens to rip apart the space-time continuum as we know it lingers. Of course, I've been known to overpack (I used to bring a couple dozen CDs with me places -- thank god for MP3 players), so my perspective here is skewed. Still, it reminded me of one fateful day in Storrs, Conn., back in the early '90s (or as Mike might say, the late early '90s)...

My brother's dorm at UConn was within walking distance of home, so one day I meandered up there. I was hanging out with Mike and, I think, his friends Kevin and Scott. They started talking about laundry. Kevin asserted that one pair of underwear could be worn for four straight days -- the normal way, backward, inside-out and inside-out/backward -- before needing to be washed. This discussion went on for a while.

I asked, "So this is what college is like, huh."

The group response: "Yeah, this is pretty much it."

So, based on Steve's suggestion, I packed five pair. And based on Kevin's theory, that should get me through 20 days.

Which leaves me a couple of days short. Damn Kevin and damn Rick Steves. Does nobody know anything about underwear?!

Another debacle.

Where I'm not going …

Oh, and Scott, I'll be careful.

Overseas on the world wide internet

I've been wanting to do the whole Europe thing for a while, and a friend of mine has bugged me in the past to start a blog. Being the most indecisive person I know (how I finally came to that or any conclusion, I have no idea), I decided to do both.

So, t-minus 12 days until I lift off from JFK en route to Rome for the start of a roughly three-week journey, during which I will attempt to blog about my adventures, lack of motivation, withdrawal from "Star Trek: Voyager" reruns and the latest from the Bundesliga.

Already accomplished:
•A rough itinerary (Rome, Assisi, Florence, Venice, Berlin, Amsterdam, Belgium, Paris -- with a couple of side trips potentially cracking the sked, including a remote chance of stalking checking out one of my favorite singer/songwriters, who will happen to be performing somewhat nearby while I'm over there.)

•A new passport (my god -- I have to keep this "look" for the next 10 years? Well, shaving and getting haircuts can be annoying, I suppose. The old passport photo, JB circa 1996, is shown to the right. New one is below.).

•Plane tickets. Let's hope American doesn't ground itself again. Am I even on American? I probably should look into that.

•A one-way, intracontinental flight on some German airline I've never heard of. I paid €9 extra for the "privilege" of selecting my own seat. I think I've just been swindled.

•Finding places to stay in at least a couple of destinations (maybe I'll just find a cozy spot in the Colosseum when in Rome... actually, if the Pope is still over here, the Vatican might have an extra bed).

•Finding a blog that will allow me to post quite easily from my pocket pc -- assuming it even works over there. Cyber Cafes/wifi spots should be fine. But my stubby thumbs on the tiny keyboard -- well, prepare yourselves now for a mess of typos.

•Buying a power adapter prong thingy so I can plug stuff in while in Europe. And then wait for the stuff to blow up.

To do:
•Buy the Eurail pass. Curse the dollar for being so weak. Consider traveling to Mexico instead. By mule.

•Stop panicking over this trip becoming a debacle.

•Take measures to help ensure this trip doesn't become a debacle.

•Put some thought into whether I really think this trip will turn into a debacle, or if it's just that I really like the word debacle. I also like "caminamos," but I'm skipping Spain this time around. Also fun is this one.

•Tell work that I'm leaving for three weeks. Wait, already did that. I think.

•In advance, let my brother and sister-in-law know that I won't be available to tolerate feed/watch their dog or cat (or daughter) for several weeks.

•In advance, let my brother-in-law and sister know that I won't be able to provide them with free coffee for several weeks.

•Stop the mail. I don't mean just mine. All mail everywhere must be stopped, and if nobody else is up to the challenge ...

•A whole bunch of other stuff, including getting the right backpack, doing the travelers cheques thing, deciding whether my lcd-transplanted camera will suffice, figuring out how to pack so much into so little. The standard fare.

And that's about it. I'll do my best to keep this space updated for those who care, and I'll try especially hard to do so for the rest of you who don't.

And if anyone has any suggestions on good tourist/travel/food destinations, feel free. I may ignore you, but if it makes you feel better, let's call it a win.