tre giorni prima (three days before)

Practice packing? I looked at her thinking she was joking - she wasn't. The plan is to travel to the moon (I mean Italy, of course) for two weeks with only carry on luggage. And the packing practice is to make sure we can get what we need in a container that fits the airline limits for size and weight. So, don't leave it to the last minute (no , dear I wouldn't dream of it) and double check the restrictions with each airline you will be using. We heard through the grapevine today that Air Canada will be cracking down on all infractions to the tune of $25 per piece that is oversize - and charging you at the gate! No telling what Swissair, and Lufthansa are going to charge us if we exceed their limits. (Checking their sites we found out that while their sizes are pretty much the same, their weight limit is 2kg less than Air Canada, so we will certainly have to be careful getting this right.)

What to pack? Well, I would've just thrown in a variety of badly mis-matched clothing from the top three drawers of my high-boy until the bag was full. But the missus sent me to check in with Rick Steves and to make sure I put in lighweight, but mix'n'match selections that will make it look like I packed for a year on the Riviera. Quick-dry socks and undies are also a good call since there is no doubt that we will be doing the backpacker's laundry at least 3-4 times while we are there. Which reminds me, we will also need a little laundry soap, a magic eraser, a mini clothesline and a dryer sheet all in its own little baggie.

Compression is a useful trick and so we picked up some roll up space saving bags at Bed Bath and Beyond. There are vacuum systems out there as well, but these are dead simple - you just pack the clothes into the bag, zip it up and then roll up to expel all the air. I put my favorite fleece in there and now I can use it as a bookmark. Seriously! One thing to watch out for - expelling all the air doesn't make it any lighter and in fact filling luggage with compressed clothing bags can quickly increase the weight to the point you can exceed the carry-on (or checked baggage) limits.