Moneydick

I packed my bag today: 41 pounds. It doesn’t feel heavy, but I worry that for the budget airlines’ baggage weight restrictions I’ll be dangerously over their max tonnage. I fit all my gear into a Gregory pack (Whitney) and I’m using a Jansport (Solstice 33) as a daypack. I’m going to have to get rid of some stuff as I fine-tune what I need and what I don’t.
Because planning a European vacation is something no one should do alone, I got a couple books to help me out: Rick Steve’s Europe through the Backdoor and ‘Rick Steve’s Best of Europe 2005.’ I’ll probably accidentally loose one of these huge books, or give it to someone down the road because they’re like two Bibles, except with more maps.

I’ve been collecting addresses and emails of folks I hope to see when I’m in Europe. Because my plan so far is so flexible, It’s not easy yet to make dates that are too specific. My loosey goosey itinerary is this:
London: September 18th. Two weeks
Go North to York
And bus up to Edinburgh
Ferry to Copenhagen
Or Get some more UK time in Dublin
Oh damn, I feel like hanging out in Rome now. £15 plane flight gets me there like a sack of oranges
Damn Rome is cold how about some
Amsterdam in December…. and so on and so on.
I honestly couldn’t say that I’ll ever leave London. But I should.
In honor of the times to come, please check out this culturally-charged music video.

In a couple days I’ll be swimming in a spring-fed pond in Dover Plains, New York. And I’ll be visiting dear Vassar soon as well.

And so you see, to old V.C.
Our love shall never fail.
Full well we know that all we owe
To Matthew Vassar’s ale.