“The slang term “the devil is in the details” has a number of different senses. All of the meanings boil down to the fact that it is often the small details of something which make it difficult or challenging.” (wiseGeek.com)

I spent 18 months planning this trip.  I went from not knowing where to start – to researching every detail, and agonizing over decisions!  I believe the time spent In preparation eliminated what could have been “difficult or challenging” situations.

Airfare and Airlines

I spent days and days researching airlines, routing, layovers, jet lag, and arrival and departure cities.  I checked out Kayak.com, PicassoTravel.com, Momondo.com, Fly.com, itasoftware.com, sidestep.com,  cheapair.com, farecompare.com, Orbitz, Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline, Hotwire, Sams Club, Costco, AAA, and followed up on every lead I’d glean from some message board.  Some airlines are not included in the major search engines so I searched the websites of RyanAir, EasyJet, Virgin,  AerLingus, SwissAir, JetBlue, Allegiant and Southwest.  I was looking for the not-so-obvious routing – and a great price!  I didn’t find either!!!

The first decision to be made was whether to fly non-stop to Europe from the West Coast or make a connection on the East Coast.

• Pros:  A delay won’t cause a missed connection and lost travel day.  It is the fastest travel time.
• Cons:  It’s a very long flight!

The second decision was whether to leave in the morning or evening and therefore arrive in the morning or evening.

• Pros:  Leaving in the evening leaves you less rushed to get to the airport.   I never sleep well when I have to set the alarm for an early flight.  I’m afraid it won’t go off or something!  Arriving in the evening we could go straight to bed, get a good night’s sleep and hit the road the next day. It would eliminate that zombie jet-lagged arrival day when you’re dying to take a nap which they recommend you don’t do until it’s bedtime in the local time zone.  
• Cons:   Pay for a night’s lodging.  

I didn’t want to lose a single day in Italy so I opted for the evening flight!  It worked for us, but that non-stop flight from SFO to ZUR was a LONG flight!  Maybe I’d do it differently by breaking up the trip as long as there weren’t long layovers.  Even better – fly Business Class for the lay-flat-bed-like seating!!!

Shoes

There are message boards about shoes – and I read them!   Personally, I don’t like to wear closed-toe shoes or socks and tennis shoes.  From the reviews I decided on two brands of shoes for the trip that didn’t cost $100.  I wanted to get them worn in – so months before the trip I bought a pair of brown “FitFlops” in a mule design and a pair of black “Crocs” sandals from Macy’s and practiced walking in them!  I never had a single blister or moment of discomfort.

Unfortunately, on the actual flight my feet swelled and never returned to normal due to all the walking.  My feet were miserable and blistered. But, hey!  I packed moleskin.

Next time:  Research how to prevent swelling!

Packing

Swiss Airlines’ allowed 17 pounds for carry-ons.  And they were weighing passengers bags at the gate.   Thankfully, they didn’t weigh mine.

There is a an abundance of information in favor of packing light.  I decided to try it and am so glad I did.  It felt extremely liberating having everything in one bag and to be able to handle it myself.  I used a rolling backpack and an over the chest purse.   (We packed a fold-up duffel and one of those small sport back bags for a day bag.) When traveling, I tend to want to wear what’s comfortable, not tight or fussy.  The majority of my clothes were knits which packed well:  solid color bottoms, solid color tops, plus a few sundresses, a knit shawl, and 2 different weight zip-ups. Often, we’d go back to our room to rest, clean up, and I’d change before going out again for dinner.

We did laundry twice, not because everything was dirty, but because carrying around clean clothes is more pleasant.

Adding the cruise to our itinerary caused me some concern about having enough clothes since I usually like to dress up for dinners.  My husband packed a sports jacket for the cruise instead of a suit.  (Tux Rental onboard the ship could have been preordered, but that would have required ME to have a dressy dress and shoes, of course!)

The online advice was about buying “unlocked” phones, or renting phones, etc.  I called AT&T, our cellular service provider, and added an International Calling and Messaging plan for less than it would have cost to buy a phone and SIM card.  I placed the cancel order for a few days after we were due home (in case of being delayed or something.)   I was warned to keep my phone “off” or in “Airplane Mode” to keep from receiving calls (something about paying for the minutes if a person calls and leaves a voice message.)  It was always fun to take if off of “Airplane Mode” to send text messages and photos and receive texts from friends and family!  Another advantage was being able to call ahead to our B&Bs with our ETA.  I took my cell phone charger and was always able to borrow an electrical currency converter at our B&Bs when necessary.

Coming soon:  Planning the itinerary!!!