steve-parr.blogspot.com

I arrived Wednesday morning after an almost ten hour flight from Charlotte. Customs and baggage claim was a breeze, and then I got to the car rental

You see, there's a lot out there, and I'm a big proponent of going out and finding it. But, inasmuch as that cross country drive reminded me of what we have right here within our own borders, I'm still acutely aware that there's a great big world out there, with a lot of great big open roads waiting to be traveled. While I would like to make a second trip to Italy to visit Venice and points north, I don't want to do so at the expense of other locales. I'm going to New York for two weeks in June, and I'm also looking at visiting an old friend and his family in Georgia; maybe in the fall.

The obvious downside of packing too much is that it's quite possible you'll run afoul of the 50lb maximum allowed by most airlines for a checked bag. If you're flying internationally, odds are your first suitcase will be free of charge, assuming you don't over-pack and incur a fee for that. First, it's often less expensive to check a second bag than it is to pay the additional overweight fee for the first bag. Second, if you have two suitcases, you can spread the weight between the two, all but guaranteeing that you don't incur the additional fee (and, if you do incur that fee with two bags, you probably are taking too much).

So, you'll need to not only pick up a power adapter (I actually recommend at least two of them), but you need to be sure you're buying the proper adapter for where you'll be traveling. AAA offers a service called AAA Travel Money and it works like this: You go to the AAA website (you need to be a member and, by the way, why aren't you? ) and navigate your way to the Travel Money site, which is actually operated by Travelex. I know I'll probably exchange more at some point while I'm in Italy, but it'll be nice to have cash on hand. If you're going to be renting a car, check to see if the country (or countries) in which you'll be driving that car require you to have an International Driving Permit (IDP).