Give me SOMETHING!

We got our myguideBritain travel package today, and I was disappointed to find that they still have not provided us with street addresses for 4 out of our 7 accommodations. Some of the directions are pretty straight forward - but most are not. One place simply says Bruce Gardens - but that place has more than one B&B in it so how are we to know which one it is?

I emailed the person I'm working with at myguideBritain and told them that if they can't give me street numbers - that's fine. But I need some longitude & latitude coordinates or something. I'm not going to go tramping across half of Scotland looking for one B&B. Sure, that'd be a story to tell and I'd see some cool stuff but in the process I'll be wasting time I could be spending seeing places I've been dreaming about for ages.

25% off is throwing me for a loop

Awhile ago I posted on my Scotland blog about me wanting to purchase a different toiletry kit as the one I have now is just a tad bit too small and it took me ages to pack it so that everything fit - the very thing I was trying to avoid. So I went onto Amazon and bought another bag through one of their merchants. Two weeks later and I'm still waiting for A) The money to be taken out and B) For the item to be shipped. After many emails asking for a status I get an email that says the item is actually out of stock. Nice. However, as an apology they'd like to give me a 25% discount & free shipping to use at their online store (not Amazon). Looking around I've found a few options and I'm having trouble deciding.

First we have two Eagle Creek (I've come to love them!) toiletry kits that are essentially the same however one is larger. The reason I'm debating is because I don't want to get a monster kit - but I don't want to do what I've done with my current kit which is get just enough. Their sizes are 10" x 6.5" x 4" for the medium and 11.5" x 9" x 4" for the large and the price difference is about $10 which bothers me a bit... In fact, as I'm writing this I think I've decided to just go with the medium. For one thing, I don't like paying $10 for a total of 4 inches more. Plus, the inches are height and width but not depth which is where I think I'd find it most beneficial. So, now we've narrowed down which toiletry case to get :)

Second we have two shoulder bags. The reason I'm considering these is because as everyone knows, I'm taking Linnet with me and I want to have her as my carry-on and in a proper bag that will keep her safe and protected. These bags drew my attention because I can't have her stretched out due to carry-on baggage size limitations so I need something that will allow her to bend at the waist but not have to bend at the knees too. These bags are perfect in size, they have a stiff bottom, and the bottom has those metal numbs that will prevent the bag from resting directly on the floor which I think will protect her even more. The decision to be made here is which color/pattern to choose.

Once I choose between which tote, then I have to decide between the toiletry case, or the tote! I might be able to find a good tote, and for cheaper (though, not as cute) else where though I know I've been having trouble finding a good toiletry case. However, once I'd found out I wasn't getting the case I wanted I did another packing and decided to just make do. So, should I buy another toiletry case even though I have one - or should I buy the tote even though I could find these at a dime a dozen?

Run one, learned a thing or two

I ended up ordering two packing folders & four packing cubes from an online store that will allow me to return them if necessary (got free shipping too!). They arrived on Monday and last night I did a run-through packing to see how well they worked. Though I didn't have a list in front of me, I packed everything I wanted to bring. I also found out a lot about my suitcases and I'm even more glad I bought them :)

I found that my smaller second suitcase was divided into two levels (with a wide flat pocket on the outside) and that one level was a perfect fit for my hiking boots (as I'll be wearing my comfy flats to the airport and when we're not hiking). That same level also has a semi-removable lining so it can be cleaned to an extent if my boots are dirty. The next level I haven't really decided what I want to put there - but that's a good thing because I want to leave room for souvenirs.

My larger suitcase is working out wonderfully. I used two of the packing cubes; filling one with socks and the other with underwear and my extra bra. I also used the packing folder - but only put my t-shirts in it. The size is larger than I thought it was going to be - perhaps a bit too large. Having only my t-shirts in it is not enough to justify bringing it so on my next round of packing I'm going to make sure to pack my pants in that as well (I just folded kind of rolled them and put them in the case this time) to give it some bulk and stiffness. It'll also keep my pants (particularly my cargo pants - that wrinkle easily) in fairly presentable condition - SCORE! The large suitcase has this really nice pocket that is in the top (lid) and it holds my all-weather jacket perfectly! There's also this small inner pocket that fits my slippers perfectly too! All in all I'm just really excited and happy with my travel purchases so far.

The only downside I've found so far is that my toiletry case is just not big enough. I don't want to have to pack it so carefully in order to fit everything because it's time consuming and I don't want to spend a lot of time packing and unpacking. I just want everything easily accessible. I've found one on Amazon that I like that is cheap - so I think I'm just going to pass this one off to Paul :P