Sally and I leave tonight for Portugal. It’s not our first trip there – we were there 35 years ago. With a teen and preteen, which made it one of the least enjoyable trips we took. The teen wanted nothing to do with us or the trip, and the preteen didn’t understand why no one could get along.

I exaggerate, but only a bit. I remember that we had some fun times on that trip. But I also remember that it was not a roaring success. Honestly, we tried to take two kids on an adult trip with the predictable result.

Anyway, this trip will be a fully adult trip with just two adults. Should be fun!

I won’t bore you with too much packing and gear details, except to say that we’re basically repeating our strategies from the trip last year to Morocco, which served us well. I continue to be impressed at how much less stuff we each are packing when compared to what we lugged around in prior years. I’m not missing anything on these trips, and I’m finding it a pleasure to have so much less stuff to deal with in each room, especially when it comes to packing and unpacking as we move between stops.

We’re also doing the hired driver/guide strategy we used in Morocco with a significant change: we won’t have the same driver & guide with us everyday for the duration. Each of our tours seems to have a guide who is experienced in that particular activity, and we’ll see how the drivers change over time. We’ve also left lots of free time in each of our stops – time to relax, walk around the cities and towns we’re staying in, time for a drink or to sit by the pool.

Our flight is scheduled for 10pm departure, so – while I find it hard to sleep on the plane – at least it will be the right time for us to get some sleep. We land at 10am local time (the next day), which is 5am to our bodies – so we’ll probably be a bit draggy tomorrow. In the meantime, at least we get the use of a decent lounge while we wait for our flight.

I’m excited!