T-minus 3 days!

The weeks of anticipation have melted into mere days!  The last month has flew by thanks to one of my other great loves - The Toronto International Film Festival (a trip around world in movies if you will...)  After I recovered from that I've basically had a week and a half to get set to go.  Unfortunately one of the side effects of seeing 28 movies in 11 days was a weakened immune system and now I find myself battling a cold, not exactly the desired state of health right before leaving on a trip.

Bit of laundry, some device chargers, some of that new Advil Nightime, and zero comprehension of Hungarian or Czech aside, I'm pretty much ready to go.  As usual my bag's a little heavier than I'd like, but the mid-month drop in temps (coinciding with my heading slowly north as the trip goes along) is going to warrant a warmer jacket.  At the same time, I'm willing to make a number of compromises while traveling, but foregoing the opportunity to wear open-toed shoes is not one of them.  As a result I'm a little embarrassed to admit there is a thin wool coat and a pair of Birkenstocks in my bag for my days in Venice :P

I've only recently begun researching aircraft seating options, another advantage to traveling in the internet age.  A number of flight confirmations now include the type of aircraft you'll be flying on (if not, it's still possible to search, airlines usually deploy the same types of planes on a given flight destination), from there a quick hop over to sites like Seat Guru and you can easily see a seating plan for your flight.  Many discount flights will charge extra to reserve a seat in advance, but even if you don't reserve, at least you have an idea of what to try for when you get to the airport.  Note: emergency row seats nowadays are usually all taken, so have your 2nd and 3rd choices ready.  Seating plan aside, there is also info on seat width, pitch, and whether there are power outlets available.  So I know to expect 19" wide seats and no power source for the 8 hours of my flight...grrrrreeeaaat.... *rolls eyes*

Watch for my tweets and blogs from overseas!  Ciao!