We leave tomorrow, so it’s time to gather all of the stuff we need and make sure it fits in my bags. I’m seriously out of practice, since our last extended trip and our last trip out of the country was four years ago. Can you believe I almost forgot to bring electric plug adaptors? Sheesh … they used to be pre-packed in my bag, ready to go.

When you’re moving around during a trip, as we will be, you often have to deal with different climates. Add to that the uncertainty in the weather forecasts, which seem to change from day to day.

The weather in Morocco this time of year is mostly in the 70s during the day, and 50s at night. The current forecast that I can see suggests some days will be in the 80s. We will also be in the mountains and desert for a few days, where it can get colder at night. So we have a 40 degree range to accommodate – 40s to 80s – while hoping to see mostly 50s to 70s.

The common wisdom says the way to approach this problem is by having layered clothing, all of which can go together. So on those cool evenings, you put all of your clothes on – t-shirt, shirt, sweater, light jacket – and hope it’s enough. When it’s warm, just a t-shirt or short sleeved polo will suffice.

As for the carry-on, I’m actually carrying on less stuff than usual. Because I’ve stripped down my camera kit, it fits in the small black camera bag, plus a few additional items in the backpack. The backpack also contains the stuff you can’t really check: batteries, papers, cash, meds, etc.

I spent this morning going over the collection of stuff laying in and around my suitcase and backpack, comparing it to my checklist. I found quite a number of items on the checklist that I hadn’t pulled out yet. I also remembered a number of items (like the aforementioned adaptors) that were neither on the list or laying on the floor. And we’re collecting a short of list things that I’ll run to the store to get later on.

That leaves plenty of time tomorrow to obsessively go over the list again.