Planning, planning and more planning

The plane tickets have been purchased, the family/friends have been alerted, the Zurich apartment is confirmed. 

 The trip is officially official.

 To say that I get "excited" or "enthusiastic" about planning travel trips is probably the understatement of the year (no seriously, ask Duane). Nevertheless, my uncontrollable thrill to be going on this trip of a lifetime has brought out the obsessive compulsive researcher in me (bet you didn't know that existed....), i.e., planning out details, determining apartment I want in Paris, what French town/city I want to go to after Paris, researching activities, coordinating time to visit my family/friends, tourist destinations, the must-dos of each city and then neatly organizing them into an excel spreadsheet. Yes, I am that person, and no, I am not crazy (I am a Psychologist, I would know).

 Current Plan of Major Stops
  • Munich - OKTOBERFEST BABY!!!
  • Paris - The city of love
  • Lyon - The French capital of gastronomy
  • Zurich - (Apparently) The indisputable gay capital of Switzerland
While I mull over the details of this impending endeavor, I cannot help to see the stark differences of this developing trip and my two previous ones. This time, I will
  1. Actually be living somewhere
    • Previous trips, I did not stay in one spot for more than 4 days. Duane and I will be in Zurich for a little over a month, leaving ample time to explore the amazing city and the great areas around it. 
  2. Have money 
    • Oh to experience things without a shoe string budget!
  3. I will not be living out of a bag per say or limited to one backpack
    • Since Duane is working, we will have an apartment in Zurich where I can drop off half of my things that I do not want to trek around during the 1st half of the trip. This fact and that we will be with his coworkers, my family/friends, the time of year we will be there and traveling in a semi adult fashion has already made it a reality that packing for this trip will be a nightmare. I have one backpack, one large suitcase, one carry-on and a computer bag to fit my life into for  52 days.
  4. The time of year. We will be going into the fall which is quiet different weather wise than the summer when I normally go. 
    • Stand by for blog posts that center around how freaking cold I am.
  5. Bringing my boyfriend to visit/meet the German family 
    • Eeeek!!!! Poor Duane. 
More things to come as things progress, develop and are finalized.

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