We are traveling this weekend on a 4 weeks long trip and I am driving myself crazy trying to decide what to pack. We have a complicated itinerary with many uncertainties. This is the first time that we are going on a trip that we don’t have everything booked and planned in advance. First leg of this trip is 7-8 hours car ride to my home town in different country. I am going there to visit my parents in nursing home, but I will also have to deal with banks and lawyers, running errands, visiting with family and having drinks with friends. But majority of time I will spend in my childhood home, sorting through my parents belongings and helping them close the deal on a house sale. That is the one of the constraints that I have - we need to travel lightly and have as much as possible space in the car to be able to collect some of the things that I want to keep from the house. I know I can ship some of it back home, but there are mostly fine china and art pieces that I would rather bring myself.
Temperatures will be hovering around 35C degrees without cloud in the sky and low humidity. My hometown is small but not rural and people like to dress nicely. One of the main activities of residents is sitting in cafes in town square and people watching, and everyone is dressed to be seen and to impress. And being a small town there is always possibility of running into familiar faces or old boyfriends
Another constraint is that I don’t know how long it will take to finish sorting through things and finalize the sale. So that is why I can’t plan or book further legs of the trip. But once this is done, next leg is another 6-7h car ride to another country to visit my husband’s side of family. This was actually our home before we moved to Vienna 17 years ago, we lived there for 8 years and our son was born there. But we sold our former home during the pandemic because it was such a hassle to maintain it from afar. My husband did visit during pandemic but this will be the first time for me since new year 2020, and first time not having our place there. This will be now more of a city break, with dining and shopping and visiting friends and family. My husband will stay there for longer to help his mom with things around her house that need fixing, and my daughter and me will stay for a few days and then hop on a plane to any europ destination that will be available at that time. It could be a beach vacation in Greece or Italy, or mybe a city break in Paris or London. We are planning to travel lightly with only a carry on, and if there is enough time left until end of my time off, and we feel adventurous enough we may do a multiple destinations before returning to Vienna. But there are also some other things to consider. There is currently a chaotic situation in air travel, with long queues, strikes, canceled or delayed flights and lost luggage that may impact our plans. And there is also worry about COVID, cases are rising across the Europe, and it seems that is now a question of when and not if I will catch it at some point since I didn’t have it yet. And that will also throw a wrench into our plans. We had a huge outbreak in the office recently, and now almost everyone I know already had it.
Sorry about such a long post, but wanted to explain complexity of the situation. I am completely at loss, not even know where to start and how much to pack. I will be able to do laundry at the first 2 stops, but uncertainty of the last part of the trip is what worries me the most.