Traveling to Spain

[maverick]

Hola!

I had packed for my trip to Spain in the Hero's Journey!

My packing list included --

• 3 t-shirts in a packing cube
• 1 pair of shorts and 1 pair of yoga pants in a packing cube
• 3 pairs of underwear and 1 pair of socks in a packing cube
• 1 pair of flip flops in a packing cube (I wore hiking shoes on my flight)
• toiletries (shampoo, conditioner, shampoo, face soap, face lotion, body lotion, deodorant) inside a Deluxe Spiff Kit
• flushable wipes
• Daylight Backpack with 15" MacBook Pro, iPad, power adapters, notebook, pens, battery, charging cables, a deck of cards and earphones. A Synapse 19 Freudian Slip helped to organize much of the stuff.
• Travel Cubelet with wallet, passport, notebook, pen, lip balm, mints, hand lotion, and earplugs
• Small Zip-Top Shop Bag for grocery shopping and to bring anything back that I might pick up.
• Nano puff jacket in case it was cold on the flight (it wasn't).

All of the aforementioned items, including the Daylight backpack and the Travel Cubelet were packed comfortabl inside the Hero's Journey.

I was thinking of perhaps carrying the Brain Bag to hold the items that were in the Daylight Backpack.

To show you how last minute this was, after I called for my ride, after the app showed that the driver was 4 minutes away, I got a crazy idea. I decided that instead of the Hero's Journey, I would pack in a roll aboard suitcase + Brain Bag + Travel Cubelet.

Part of this was the desire to use the Brain Bag. And part of it was laziness.

This is a testament to the approach of packing in packing cubes. I was able to transfer stuff in that brief time. Perhaps the driver took more than the 4 minutes that the app had estimated, but I was re-packed and ready to go when the driver pulled up.

This approach enabled me to bring the Brain Bag (I didn't want to carry two backpacks, and I didn't want to carry the Hero's Journey as a shoulder bag).

But it also meant that when I arrived, instead of taking the train into Torremolinos and walking through the beautiful cobblestone paved market to the hotel, I would end up taking a taxi to the hotel. The cost of the train is around €3 if I remember correctly. The taxi was €22.

I connected through CDG, which is so huge that despite a 2 hour layover, I had a tight connection. There were times that I was standing on escalators with my roll aboard -- escalators that I would have walked if I had packed in the Hero's Journey. I was able to rest my Brain Bag on top of the roll aboard suitcase at times.

For the return trip, I have a 7 hour layover in Paris, and will plan to go into the city to walk around and get something to eat. I will check in the roll aboard suitcase for the return flight (yes, laziness). The Brain Bag will hold my tech gear and anything delicate I may pick up in Spain.

It is beautiful here!

[Perseffect]

It is beautiful here!

Have an amazing time Maverick


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RichardMcG]

I was just in Torremolinos a few months ago. It is amazing!!!

[maverick]

A beautiful afternoon in Torremolinos!

[bouncing]

Just as an aside, don't use the flushable wipes in Spain. Or use them, rather, but don't flush them. Their plumbing isn't as robust as ours.

Enjoy!

[maverick]

Thanks @bouncing! Hopefully I didn't cause too much trouble!

I had a lovely trip back, but ended up not checking the roll aboard suitcase for the return trip. I also decided as a result that I wouldn't go out in Paris during my layover.

I was bringing back a couple of bulky items, and managed to pack them in the Brain Bag along with my other tech gear.

Malaga security went through my Brain Bag with some thoroughness. In the end, they stopped after taking a pen apart. After finishing at security, I repacked some items into the roll aboard since I had not checked it.

The layover in Paris was fine. I enjoyed some wonderful company for part of it, and took the opportunity to get some work done for the rest. No issues going through airport security in Paris, but I got pulled aside for a random screening as I was boarding the flight back. They did a swab of the electronics in the Brain Bag as well as the inside of the Brain Bag. I think it was just an excuse to get a closer look at the bag!

By the way, in Malaga and in Paris for the return flight, I was able to leave my liquids in the Deluxe Spiff Kit. I pack the liquids all on one side, and I just pulled it out and lay it open in its own tray. On the outbound connection through Paris, I had pulled out the liquids and placed them in a plastic ziplock bag as requested.

It all worked out! But I'm looking forward to traveling sans wheels next time!

[Jennygranny]

MHO Barcelona is much more interesting than Madrid. Specially if you are planing a short trip I would recommend you visiting Barcelona.
There are many interesting places to visit there -I suggest you to visit the Gaudi park... that's awesome!- and you can easily move to close towns which are also very interesting and i suggest you to rent a car to save some lifetime, they can even sent a car to airport.

Travelling from Madrid to Granada? Yes, that's easy and worthwhile.
EASY: You can travel by bus or train. Both are affordable.
WORTHWHILE: Granada is one of the prettiest towns in Spain. La Alhambra is worth to visit (if you travel with your couple, visit it during the night You'd love it) and people there is really nice!

Other suggestions...
If you look for something different, try visiting the North of Spain. There are lots of places where you would love to get lost
But if you are gonna make a short trip I suggest you to visit the South. Typical but very interesting if that's your first time to Spain.

Btw I have made this suggestions because you said you are planning to travel in October or November.
If you finally decide to travel during the summer, stay away from Madrid and the South -too hot wheather!!!