Packing light for another adventure
Packing light for another adventure
Happy Monday!
It was 100º F in Rome today. 🥵 And we don’t have air conditioning. 😵
I’m packing for my next pilgrimage which will have me in Spain, France, Portugal, and Germany over the next two weeks. These are places I don’t visit nearly as often as Italy (where I live) and the Holy Land. So I’m super excited to have some new content to share with you.
Here’s a pilgrimage, a travel tip, an update, and an invite…
Pilgrimage Spotlight
Rome to Umbria to Oberammergau
I announced this pilgrimage on Friday evening, and it’s already half full.
I am personally leading six pilgrimages to the Oberammergau Passion Play this year – and believe me, that is a lot of German Passion. I’ve already taken two groups, I leave tomorrow for another, and two of the others sold out immediately.
So I decided to take one more small group in September. This one will be just 15 people.
I am so busy with pilgrimages outside of Italy this year, that I wanted to give people a chance to visit the places I love most.
We will start with four nights in Rome, staying in the neighborhood where I live, just a 60-second walk to Saint Peter’s Square.
We will have Mass in some amazing churches, take a few tours with Rome’s best local guides, and maybe see a pope or two. We will also hit up all my favorite restaurants, my favorite cafe, and one of my favorite bars.
Then we will travel into Umbria for three nights in Assisi. Lovely Masses, wonderful meals, lots of wine, and plenty of time to relax and reflect.
After Assisi, we will travel up to Munich where we will tour the city, visit a concentration camp, and see a bit of beautiful Bavaria.
We end our pilgrimage with the once-every-ten-years Passion Play.
Travel Tip
I’ve always pushed for people to carry-on and not check luggage.
From my very first group pilgrimage where one lady finally got her luggage the day she was flying home from Rome, to my most recent pilgrimage where one lady’s lost suitcase followed her around Europe, finally arriving on day seven, lost luggage has always been one of the most frustrating things about travel.
And it’s getting worse.
As more and more people start to travel again, lost luggage is becoming way too common. There was a story the other day about a Delta flight from London to Detroit that carried no passengers, just 1,000 pieces of lost luggage.
Still, I know some people feel they just cannot do carry-on only. So here are a few tips for you.
Never check medicines or things you cannot live without, place those items in your carry-on.
Always pack one extra change of clothes in your carry-on. While many dream of a shopping spree in Europe, it’s not ideal as soon as you step off a plane. Having an extra outfit will allow you to get through a few days while your luggage is found and delivered.
If you are traveling with someone and you are both checking, split your stuff between the two suitcases. This way, if one is lost, you will both have some items to get you through the first few days of your trip.
When you check, you should take a photo of your suitcase. Telling the airline “it’s the black one with wheels” isn’t very helpful.
If you are afraid of doing carry-on only, keep in mind that you probably don’t need nearly as much as you think you do. Plus, if find you really do need that item you left at home, you can most likely replace it in Europe.
Update from last week.
After seeing this post, the travel company apologized and pulled the plagiarized itinerary to reword it.
Their tour leader had sent the office my trip as inspiration for the trip she wanted, thinking they would plan something similar and rewrite it. They did not.
Can’t say I blame them, I designed a great pilgrimage, which you can sign up for here.
Tipsy Tuesday
Tomorrow is Tipsy Tuesday, live from Barcelona!
Join in at 1 PM Eastern, only on Instagram.
And can you believe that in a few weeks it will be the TWO YEAR anniversary of Tipsy Tuesday? How should we celebrate?
See you tomorrow with some sort of Spanish beverage!
— Mountain