First trip to Europe in 6 weeks - packing and general tips

ear one pair of shoes and pack a second. Do not let your wife go nuts on shoes. No one there cares.

Make sure you have a European adapter so you can charge your devices.

If you are going to drive get the IDL. Some rental car companies are strict about it and in the event that you get pulled over you do not want to be without it. I also get the the full insurance. No matter what happens you can toss the keys to them and walk away.

edinburgh is one of the great cities of europe. st andrews is worth a daytrip. have a pint of tennent beer while in scotland.

Have some outfits and some underwear etc in the backpack and some in the carry on. You just never know if for some reason you have to check your carry on...and then it gets lost, you want to have at least something to wear in the backpack.

2 pairs of shoes is fine. MAYBE 3 if you're gonna do some hiking.

Over the Counter meds that you may need.

Went 3 week ago. I wore shorts most days and always had a light jacket with me.

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This. Delays, boarding/de-boarding, etc sometimes they make you check your carry on.

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Yes I have learned this the hardway.

One pair of casual clothes, one pair of dress up clothes (if you plan on going to any nice places, maybe your dress shoes (if you're going anywhere nice the first night or two), 2 pairs of underwear, 2 pairs of socks, phone charger, and maybe some toiletries in the backpack, if you can fit it all, everything else in the carry on.

When you bring charging cables, don't bring white ones like everyone else uses. Do red, green, anything. It will keep people from taking your cables, and it'll catch your eye if it moves when it's on a charging stand a couple of feet from your seat at the airport. I just picked this travel adapter up from Anker, has EU and UK plugs on it, and it's smaller than my old brick. This little charger unit is permanently in my travel bag. Having the cable means you can fit it into a tight charging spot. You can get EU/UK cables to plug it in like this, so you can use without an adapter for cheap, too. Recessed power sockets that won't take a wall wart seem to be more of a problem in the EU than the UK, IIRC.

Get familiar with using Apple Pay, everyone uses it nearly exclusively. You can leave your credit and debit cards in your room. Enroll them in Apple pay before you leave.

If you want, you can get a theft resistant backpack (has locks, wire reinforced straps, etc.) for your day bag. That's usually what I used on the weekends in big cities at least. It freaked out security at CDG, but that's the only airport that thought the particular bag might have been a b0mb.

Bring collapsible canteens, they're easy to fill up after security and will make sure there is no chance of dehydration.

I use mesh organizer bags in different colors so I can grab shite out of my carry on quickly. All charging batteries and cables go in the black mesh one, the bag with my contacts and meds is a little orange one, and the pink one is for when I need to head to the latrine. Batteries and cables can look suspicious to screening, so I just pull the black bag out even if not asked.

Attach a Gerber Shard keychain tool to one of the mesh bags for both you and the wife. Helpful for opening a park beer, etc.

half the locals were in long pants and jackets and its 70 outside...

Pack the lightest clothes and shoes you can. Avoid heavy cotton. I bring two pair of light and versatile shoes.


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