We’re on our way to Europe! As I write this, we are at the Denver Airport, waiting to board our flight to Frankfurt.

This trip was born when I signed up for the Berlin Marathon last Fall, along with 17 of my Revolution Running teammates! Many of us are aiming to complete the Marathon World Majors (New York, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, London, Tokyo). After Berlin, I’ll have three more to go: New York, London, Tokyo.

The Berlin Marathon will be my first overseas race. Jay and I decided to make a vacation out of it. Our itinerary is as follows:

Sept 15 Fly to Frankfurt (non-stop flight out of Denver)

Sept 16 Frankfurt

Sept 16-21 Prague

Sept 21-25 Berlin (race day is Sept 24)

Sept 25-27 Munich

Sept 27-Oct 1 Wengen (Swiss Alps)

Oct 1 Fly Home (Zurich > Frankfurt > Denver)

One thing about a trip that’s a couple weeks long…the amount of stuff I end up packing is about the same as when we went on our 3-month trips. I’m bringing the same backpack I’ve been using for a number years now – the Kelty Redwing 44. It’s small enough to carry on an airplane yet large enough to hold all my stuff. Everything fits nicely once all the clothing is in compression sacks (and I’m wearing some of the items). Plus, the compression sacks keep everything organized.

The added challenge this time around was incorporating all of my race stuff. The way I pack is by laying everything out on the bed.

For clothes, I am bringing:

• Top Row: Light weight compressible down jacket, rain jacket, lightweight fleece, hoodie, gortex socks
• Middle Row: 4 t-shirts, 1 long sleeve shirt, tank top, pair of shorts, rain pants, hats, gloves
• Bottom Row: Dark jeans, black leggings, running jacket, running tee, race shorts, race tank, running shoes, walking shoes

After putting everything into compression sacks, this is what it looks like:

On the left is what goes in my backpack (plus toiletries, race day nutrition, etc.) On the right is what I’m wearing at the airport.

In addition to the backpack, I am also bringing my Eagle Creek handbag. I bought this for a trip to Italy over 10 years ago and it’s since been to over 20 countries with me. Maybe for the next trip I’ll finally replace it with something new.

Travel Tip for the Day: Before departure, I like to go into the Google Maps app on my phone and save offline maps for the locations where we are traveling. That way, even without cell service or wifi, we know where we are and can find where we are going.

Germany, here we come!