We leave on Friday.

We’re heading to Spain with no real plans. Just backpacks and a sense of adventure. (And tickets to the Alhambra, since those have to be bought in advance). The trip is 10 days if you include the travel time.
This is our packing list, including all the items we’ll be wearing:

• 1 set long underwear (me)
• 4 underwear (me)
• 2 bras (me)
• 2 pairs pants (me)
• 2 long-sleeved shirts (me)
• purple jacket, includes hat/gloves in pocket (me)
• white hat (me)
• 8 pairs socks (me) [I have extra-moist feet]
• hiking shoes (me)
• sneakers (Shannon)
• 4 boxers (Shannon)
• 3 shirts (Shannon)
• 2 pants (Shannon)
• sandals (Shannon)
• 3 pairs socks (Shannon)
• black rain jacket (Shannon)
• brown hat (Shannon)
• watches (both)
• mini-hairbrush
• mini-comb
• 2 travel dental kits
• nail clippers
• electric razor
• mini shampoo/conditioner
• 2 mini-soaps
• 2 chapsticks
• 3 tiny mouthwash bottles
• 6 ponytail holders, various sizes
• vitamins (both)
• 2 tiny laundry soap bottles
• small ibuprofen
• small Tums
• 2 travel Kleenex packs
• house key
• silk money belts: each has passport, e-ticket printout, paper photocopies of our passports, debit card, extra credit card, cash, emergency contact list
• 2 paperbacks (will read on plane, exchange with each other, then abandon early in our trip)
• Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door
• Rick Steves’ Spain
• 8 photocopied New York Times Sunday crossword puzzles
• 2 pencils
• 2 bags trail mix (will be eaten on flight, or early in trip)
• 6 Luna bars (same deal)
• 4 packs gum

If I’m wearing my jacket, my pack weighs 8 pounds. Shannon’s weighs 15. I have more room in my backpack, but with my back problems I can’t carry much more weight. So we have all the light, bulky clothes in my pack, and the heavier things in Shannon’s.

We tested our packs yesterday by day-tripping through the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco. We’ve been doing walks from Historic Walks in San Francisco. All of them are interesting, and the Haight was definitely cool. We saw where Janis Joplin used to live, as well as Jefferson Airplane’s house. And where the Grateful Dead used to party.

Anyway. I think we’re ready for Spain. We’ll do 10 minutes of laundry each night in the sinks. We’ll reserve a room for the first night at least, but beyond that we’ll play it by ear.