Well, I’m packed up. And getting closer to being ready to go. Was packed up near a week ago. But had to unpack for various reasons.

And then packed and repacked a couple times. Thing is, my backpack has a lot of pockets to put things in and I’m still getting used to what will go where. And I need to keep some of my stuff in a carry on bag.

But I can’t take actual luggage as my carry on, because what would I do with it once I got to the UK? So I’m using a stuff sack. But that meant taking out the clothes that will be in the stuff sack when I’m walking.

And how do I get my trekking poles from here to Europe? (In the pack, where we’re assuming they won’t get bent.)

Anyway, I went from this:

And got to this:

Before we head to the airport, it goes in its own large bag so that the straps and pockets don’t get eaten by the luggage handling equipment. Flying makes it harder in some ways to get to where I start walking.

But you can think of me as standing almost on the doorstep, and almost ready to leave.