I like to travel light. My luggage for a five-day conference stay in the Netherlands barely fills a small back pack. Apart from what I wear and carry in my pockets, I've got:
- Netbook computer + charger
- Smartphone charger
- Camera + charger + transfer cable. The travel camera is pretty small, but its memory card is an old clunky format that won't fit into the netbook's flash reader.
- GPS navigator + batteries (gotta get some Maastricht geocaches)
- Two paperback sf books + one work-related book, the new Valsgärde volume
- Spare undies + socks, wash as needed
- Spare t-shirts. This time I decided not to buy spares at my destination since I own too many t-shirts. And the last one with faux interlace ornament I ended up buying in Kirkwall is pretty cheesy in a bad way.
- Toiletry kit
I'm posting this from my room at the Hotel de l'Empereur in Maastricht, member of the Amrâth hotel chain, which is not a place in Tolkien's Middle-earth but apparently a Frisian term of endearment. Door to door it took me 10½ hours to get here, though I may not have chosen the fastest train route from Brussels airport. The Schengen Agreement appears to work: I got here via Zürich on my Swedish driver's licence. Note though that I wasn't wearing a turban.
By the way, at a party with colleagues last night I asked the guy across the dinner table what he's doing these days. I'd only talked to him once before, years ago, and I hadn't heard from him since. After telling me interesting stuff about his research he said, "And I needn't ask you what you're up to, since it's impossible not to know". I guess this means either that this blog and my other writing is endlessly fascinating, or that I am a tiresome self-promoter who spams the public sphere. Or maybe a bit of both.
- Log in to post comments
You were in Brussels?!
Are you sure that Amrâth is a Frisian word, let alone a term of endearment? I only know it in Old Irish where it means 'dirge'. Just curious :-)
Elena, I landed in Brussels and immediately got on a train for Liège whence I went on to Maastricht.
Judy, my informant was the reception desk clerk, so maybe she just made it all up. Though maybe a term of endearment might be better for marketing purposes.
Do you remeber the Olden Days when all one packed for a conference was a notebook made of paper...? May those Dark Ages never return.
I hope you have a nice time and look forward to reading of it on the blog, but I am sorely tempted not to forgive you for rushing off without a goodbye. You'll have to make up for that at the next blogmeet.
I'm very sorry for being so rude! I had to leave for the train and everybody kept singing "It Was in the Most Beautiful Spring of Our Youth" all the time.
Marty, I suspect Amrath is a made-up name (from two or three partners whose names began Am, Ra, Th) but not Frisian; sorry. Should archaeologists promote folk etymology? :-)
Anyway, Maastricht is a great little city with wonderful food -- and surprisingly good local wine, if you're lucky enough to find it. You'll love it.
PS: my name is Judith, not Judy. Check out my blog and you'll see: no folksiness of any kind (or so I hope).
Also, in Tolkien's Sindarin Amrath could be "am+rath", or "upwards-course" (course as in riverbed) or "upwards-road"; I don't think what seem like dainty circumlocutions for puking and dying are the meanings meant.
Wait, what? You went from Stockholm to Maastricht via Zürich?
Yep. Welcome to air travel. It's also impossible to plan a cheap triangle route by air. Instead of travelling A - B - C - A you have to go A - B - C - B - A.
Nice to know that you are a Geochacher!!!!