Translating Packing Lists Into Real Life

I shared my planned packing list list for Italy, but wanted to follow up and show how it panned out in real life. It's easy to say you're going to pack light, but it can be harder to actually do it! Honestly, packing light takes a little more planning on the front end, but makes your trip smoother, lighter, and generally more enjoyable (at least it does for me!) Here's what the contents of my backpack looked like!

The gold scarf at the top was swapped for a lighter weight black & white scarf.

 

It all fit in my 45L osprey backpack with room to spare! Here's how it looked out on the road :)

What I would have done differently:
- I brought 2 dresses but only ended up wearing 1. For fall/winter, I should have stuck to 1 dress as most days were a bit chilly (even with tights). Plus, I'd never worn the grey dress before. If you don't wear it in real life, you won't wear it on the road. Broke one of my own rules!
- I foolishly brought suede flats for my 2nd pair of shoes. With the rainy forecast, I don't know what I was thinking! These were in my backpack the entire time.
- 2 jackets. I wore both of them, but definitely could have streamlined down to 1 and chosen another medium weight top for layering options.

Overall, not too many regrets. And definitely not ones that were too terrible! But as per usual, you can usually pack less than you think you need :)

What I wouldn't change:
- My ankle boots. They were great for long days of walking, water resistant, and matched everything! 
- Layers. I got creative with my layering, putting my plaid shirt under my black dress OR the striped sweater, wore it over the black top, or by itself. Same with the mustard cardigan! Versatile as they come, and added color to otherwise plain outfits. 
- My black shirt from Vinnie Louise. It's heavy enough to be warm but billowy and breathable. With a belt it has great shape or can be layered under a sweater! I think I wore it on every train ride because it was so comfortable.
- 2 different scarves. These scarves were different colors, materials & weights. They instantly changed an outfit's look, PLUS it was nice to have different weights for weather changes.
- Low profile trainers. I found these on sale a few weeks before we left (for $30 at DSW) and I'm so glad I bought them. We hiked in Cinque Terre (so running shoes were necessary), but didn't use them again - these were half the weight and size of my Brooks running shoes, and saved me a ton of space.

Thinking about New Zealand next month, I'm trying to be smart with my packing! Here's what I know so far about our trip.
- Hiking at least 2 full days (one of those hikes will require cold weather gear)
- Driving (clothing that is comfortable in the car without being frumpy)
- The weather will be Spring-ish. Warm days, cool nights (maxi dresses, lightweight layers, thin scarf).

We'll also be sea kayaking, wine tasting, exploring cities, glaciers, and all sorts of crazy stuff. It's looking like my bag will be filled with a lot of athletic wear! Similarly to Italy, we will be bouncing around quite a bit - so i'll need easy mix & match items that pack well without wrinkling. Challenge excepted.

If anyone has been to New Zealand and has any tips on visiting in the late Summer/Early Fall, please let me know! I'm all ears!
xo

48 Hours in Venice

I realized that through the craziness of the holidays, I never got to do a recap of beautiful, charming Venice!

The last stop on our 10 day trek, and I have to say, I believe it was the right place to end. Venice is a tiny marshland island that doesn't have as many "MUST DOS" as the others, so you can leisurely stroll around, get lost, and just enjoy its unique beauty. I'm always careful to use the word "unique", as the PR world teaches you that almost nothing is UNIQUE, and reporters hate to hear that word... but Venice truly is. It has the most fascinating history & structure I've ever seen, or am likely to see again.

The water level raises and lowers several inches a day, so don't wear shoes you are afraid to ruin! You're essentially walking on a floating city (or sinking, depending who you ask), and water comes up on the street from time to time.

HOW TO GET THERE
Venice has a major airport, train station, & bus station. You can easily fly in from another country (and then take a water taxi from the airport, so fun!) or take the train in like we did. It was just under 2 hours on the high speed train from Florence, and it was easy peasy to get to our B&B from there. 

HOW TO GET AROUND
Walk. Walk more... and then keep walking. There are NO cars in Venice. Zero. Everywhere is a pedestrian walkway and you'll see why... some of the "streets" (we'll use that term loosely here) are only wide enough for one person to walk through. If you find yourself to be broad shouldered or have hips that really don't lie, you might even have to turn sideways from time to time. Don't feel bad, this isn't your fault - it's Venice's.

The water taxi (called a Vaporetto) is fun... but only useful at three times: If you're taking a train, taking a plane, or going to Morano or Burano. The water taxi only travels the grand canal, and makes only a handful of stops. The other water taxi takes you to the airport or to a few other local islands. If you're trying to get to an attraction... walk! And hope there are a few signs along the way.

Venice is quite the maze... although it wasn't as bad as I imagined. I consider myself pretty directional & detail oriented, so we just paid attention to landmarks to find our way back to certain places. Take your time & enjoy - you are likely to get lost, but it's part of the fun of this gem :)

THREE VERY IMPORTANT NOTES

• do NOT buy the Vaporetto pass unless you've done your research. We took one taxi in, and one taxi out - so the 24hr pass would have been useless, and likely will be for you, too. 
• If you're not getting on at a Vaporetto stop, you are taking a private water taxi... and these are even more expensive than Gondola rides, and not nearly as fun. So make sure you're at an official stop.
• do NOT rely on Google Maps in Venice. Most of the street names repeat several times... so get a paper map and feel free to ask for directions. 

Just an example - we stayed over near that hospital.... in an entirely different neighborhood than the green circle implies :)

WHERE TO STAY
Wherever you want. Everything is walkable, so don't worry too much about it. My only advice would be to be within quick (10 or less) walking distance of a major water taxi stop. This will make your arrival & departure much easier, the less winding streets you have to take with a backpack (PLEASE PLEASE don't bring a suitcase... you'll regret it forever). We stayed about a 5 minute walk from the Rialto Bridge in this Airbnb & I would highly recommend it. We were also 5 min away from an airport water taxi... so we had a very easy time! But truly, this won't be hard to come by. It's also fun to be a on a canal. Note above, don't trust Google Maps! Get a paper map or ask your host/front desk/anyone around. 

Most of the island of Venice is filled with tourists over the last few years. Less than 35% of the people on that island every day are locals. Most have moved to the mainland in order to make room for more room rentals & hotels. This means you should have no problem finding a great room in your budget. 

Also note, you will save a few bucks, but do your research before you stay on an outlying island. There are several that will come up in a hotel or Airbnb search for "Venice", so make sure you're ok with that (and know the water taxi schedule will work with YOUR schedule) before you confirm that booking.

WHAT TO DO
Honestly, we did a lot of wandering & eating our way around Venice. We popped in a few churches, museums and so on. The one thing I wish we would have done was go up in the clock tower in St Mark's Square. Here's what we did!

• Ghost Tour
• A must do, in my opinion. Venice has a fascinating history. We booked this one, and it was also a great way to see the city at night & hear some great stories!
• Take a Gondola Ride
• This is one of the more frivolous things we did... but it was SO fun to see the city this way. You get go to on the tiny water ways that the water taxis can't get to. In my opinion, do this around sunset - this way you're getting an amazing view! 
• Museum of Music
• This was free & just beautiful. They have instruments from some of the most famous musicians in history! Definitely worth checking out. 
• St Mark's Square
• The famous church. The square itself is incredibly beautiful, although very touristy - this is the famous place with all of the pigeons. Needless to say, we didn't stay long :) But definitely worth stopping by!
• Eat Seafood
• Venice is coastal, so they have some very interesting seafood! Our favorite restaurant was Alberto's, if you can find it :) It's near the hospital if that helps! ;) It was recommended to us by our Airbnb host, and it was worth it. Busy on a Saturday night, but certainly worth the wait.

According to some people, this beautiful city is sinking... so get there while you can! Hopefully they've helped that problem and stabilized it, but I would still get there at your earliest convenience. It's incredibly charming & breathtaking, and we loved it.

Have you ever been to Venice? Do you want to go now?
xo 

Here are my other recaps from Italy:
Rome
Florence
Cinque Terre
Wine Tasting in Tuscany

Day Trip Wine Tasting in Tuscany

I can't think of a better way to end the week than talking about wine... can you?

Wine & I are like two peas in a pod, so being in a region famous for it's vino production was a no brainer - we're going wine tasting. 

We did a Chianti Wine Tour with Fun in Tuscany... and it was a LOT of fun! If you've ever been to Napa or another wine region, the name of the game is getting to as many wineries as you can. You walk up to the counter, they tell you about a few wines that you taste, and you head  to the next one. This isn't the case in Tuscany (more specifically, Chianti) - everything is intentional. 

Each wine is savored with specific foods & enjoyed over conversation and slow sips. It was amazing! Not to mention we were basically at the "family table" in these wineries. We were taught about each wine by someone in their family, while the grandmother was preparing us delicious traditional food, like tuscan soup, cheese, lasagna, and biscotti! 

Three of the wines that this region is known for is the Chianti, Chianti Classico, the Super Tuscan, and the Vernaccia. And they're all incredible. A few notes on these blends!

• Vernaccia is the white wine of the region. It can only be called Vernaccia if it's in the area of San Gimignano (in the same way Champagne is only called Champagne if it's made in that region of France). 
• Chianti & Chianti Classico are only categorizes as such if it is made up of at least 80% Sangiovese grapes. 
• Super Tuscan wines are the Tuscan winemakers way to get creative and not live under the strict Chianti rules. 

If you have the chance to try any of them, enjoy! They're all great wines! And you'll know it's the real deal if it has a black rooster on the label (the one pictured below was only a table wine).

We also got to tour the ancient city of San Gimignano! It's been around since before the first century. Our guide told us it was the Manhattan of its day with over 70 huge towers! Only 7 still stand today, but the city was really cool to visit. 

We really loved our wine tasting experience. We visited 2 different wineries and tasted 15 wines total! Luckily they were spread out so nobody was sloppy when we left ;)

We also got to try the olive oil made on site. I'm telling you, if the wine doesn't change you, the olive oil certainly will. I've never understood why people would shop at olive oil specialty stores.... and now I have a feeling I'll be one of those people. Dang it.

If you have the chance to go on a wine tour, DEFINITELY DO IT! We thought about renting a car and going on our own, but I have to say, having a tour & a scheduled wineries to visit really was great. Unlike Napa and other areas, there isn't a "wine trail" and many of these small wineries only work with tour groups and scheduled visits. Just something to keep in mind if you're in the area!

Happy Friday, y'all! Think of me if you end the day with a nice glass of "vino rosso".

Cin Cin!
xo

Other posts about Italy:

• 48 Hours in Florence
• 48 Hours in Rome
• 48 Hours in Cinque Terre
• Choosing an Airbnb in Cinque Terre