I’ve been planning my trip for so long that it feels surreal that it is now only a week away. As I write this, I’m literally exactly a week away from my departure from Heathrow to Lisbon.
I’m definitely in the home-stretch mentality at this point. I literally have my bag completely packed with only my iPhone to be added. I have hikes planned throughout this week to test and make sure everything rides comfortably.
I did a solo 6.5 mile hike yesterday, will hike 5 miles with my MeetUp group this morning and then have a 15-miler set for Wednesday.
About the only thing I really feel behind on is learning some basic phrases in Portuguese and Spanish. I fully expect that I can get along with English, some pantomime and Google Translate, but I feel it is important to be able to at least attempt to speak to people in their native tongue.
I used an AI tool to generate a list of common phrases that would be helpful to me. It produced the list and categorized them in groups such as navigation, accommodations, dining and basic pleasantries. Now, I just need to practice them.
As part of my home stretch preparations, I did a thorough cleaning out of my refrigerator, not only removing those things that should have gone away weeks ago, but also things that will expire during my trip that I am not certain to use in the next few days.
My biggest accomplishment has been cleaning out my garage sufficiently so that my car can spend the time inside and the my daughter and son-in-law can utilize the driveway during my absence. It’s a tight fit. The sensors on literally every part of the car scream warnings of impending collision as I slowly drive in. It then takes some contortionist moves to get out of the car. But it fits and the garage door will close. I’ll chalk that up as a victory.