Chuh?

Since booking my flight to Italy, I've become a kind of travel guide junkie. Lonely Planet, Frommers, Rick Steves, anything (and I mean anything) I can google - you name it, I've perused it. Obsessively.

One thing I like about these books is the handy-dandy travel advice they give you. I especially enjoy the advice they give you regarding the out-of-the-way places and interesting history factoids. The thing I need to figure out, though, has nothing to do with what I'm going to see, but what the heck I'm going to pack.

Rick Steves has some great travel advice in regards to packing. He suggests that you only pack up to 10% of your body weight, and no more than 20 pounds. I'm totally on board with that - touring Italy with only 20 lbs to cart around - sounds fabulous! I mean, I've gone backpacking in the North Cascades for a week hauling closer to 60 lbs, so 20 lbs should be a piece of cake! Rick kindly provides a suggested packing list based on his extensive travel experience, and I've been adding items to my trip pile keeping this list carefully in mind.

The thing I can't figure out is how - following Rick's list, mind you - that my freaking backpack can weigh 35 lbs. I've followed his suggestions. I was even feeling pretty smug because I cut out several 'essentials' he suggested because they seemed a tad unnecessary. But I cannot get my backpack to weigh less than 35 lbs. WTF?

I simply cannot take any more stuff out of my backpack. It's a whittled down as far as it's gonna get. I refuse to wear the same damn pair of pants for 3 weeks. I mean, come on, one pair of pants?!?! And, I'm sorry, but in this day and age, I refuse to rinse my unmentionables in the sink each night just so I can have a semi-fresh pair of pantalones the next day. No siree, Mr. Steves. I just can't do it.

So, I'm off tomorrow morning carrying a backpack the size and weight of a medium-size Sasquatch. Hope I don't pull a hammy.

Magnifico!