Machu Pichu, Here We Come!

It's been a year in the planning, but my friend Marianne and I are finally getting ready to head off to Peru to hike the Inca Trail and cruise the mighty Amazon. Our friend Susan was going to be joining us, but has had to cancel because of unforseeable complications. We will miss her, particularly because it was her enthusiasm for this trip that inspired us to go! The blog about our trip will be dedicated to her so that she can virtually travel along with us.
Getting ready for a trip like this has taken hours of researching, planning, meetings, emails and phone calls. We finally decided to go with a tour company, because it was getting overwhelming trying to figure it all out on our own. We decided on www.alpacaexpeditions.com a company that is based in Lima, as we wanted to support the local economy. They had great reviews on Tripadvisor, but time will tell whether we made a good choice. They tailor made a trip just for the three of us, according to what we wanted to see and do. This really is an adventure trip of a lifetime. (Sorry, Susan!)
Each trip I go on, I get a little more determined to travel light. I have found a couple of blogs very helpful in the planning: www.travelfashiongirl.com and www.postcardsandcoasters.blogspot.ca
One tip that I got from Rick Steeves www.ricksteeves.com is to use packing cubes to compress everything. Baggies also serve well, as I sit on them to squeeze out all the air, and everything is nice and compact. This also helps me to be super organized, as all my shirts are in one bag, shorts in another, undies in yet another, etc.

Believe it or not, everything fits into my carry on bag, and there is lots of room for comfort food, magazines and my ipad mini in my small backpack. Homemade granola is an essential when travelling, as it is delicious, nutritious and easy to eat when the local fare is less than appetizing. I think that I am ready to go!

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