Preparing for NOLA

Every time I go on a trip, I over pack. This time I refuse to. So in order to prepare myself fully, I laid out an outfit for each day. My thought process for packing all my essentials is pretty simple. I am a planner, so I made a list in my phone absolutely everything that I needed (and wanted) to bring. This list consisted of toothpaste, toothbrush, retainers, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, hair brush, curling iron, jewelry, clothes, comfy shoes, boots for the rain, and pajamas. Aside from these I needed to bring stuff for the train. To be honest, I am not looking forward to the sixteen hour train ride. It takes a while for me to be comfy, so I brought certain things to put my mind at ease while I board. I am bringing a purple travel U-shaped pillow, and my warm, but thin-ish multi-colored purple blanket. My instructor informed us that the train may get cold at night, so it is smartest to pack a blanket just in case. I packed my bags strategically. I know that when I am on the train, I may want to read or do a puzzle to pass the time, since that is what I normally do when I am on an airplane. I did bring a small travel journal that is there in case I do want to write instead. When I went to Europe, I used to write in a small journal all the smells that I encountered. From time to time, I look back into it and I like to re-live those smells and memories, so I am taking a different journal with me for this trip.

I really like to know where I am going on a trip. I am a huge planner and like to be organized. I think I'm still in break mode, so I am lacking in the whole getting my things together, but this post is helping me. I have researched some sites about New Orleans, but my favorite place to get information is Facebook. There are more honest opinions on Facebook than the internet. I made a post yesterday that I was heading to New Orleans and needed recommendations. Best. Decision. Ever. The comments and recommendations I received were so beneficial. I got real people that I know and their opinions, which has really helped influence my decisions about where I want to go when I am there.
I do not have any pets, so arranging for the trip is pretty easy. The only planning I have to do is figuring out where I am leaving my car. We're going to be gone for a week, so I want to make sure where I leave it, it is safe. The plan for now is that I am going to leave it back in my childhood home.

Blogging is such an adventure because you can literally post whatever you want. It is entirely my own opinion. On the train, I am going to bring my backpack to keep by me. I plan to put my blanket, pillow, journal, reading book, puzzles, and my computer with charger in the backpack. This way I can access all of them when I want to. We have a blog due at noon on December 4th, so I want to be able to get to my computer to type when I have to. I plan to use my cell phone to take pictures of the commuters and snap pictures of the cities we pass through (if I am not sleeping). Seventeen hours is a long time, so I would rather be over prepared than under prepared.