Packing Up to Wheels Up…Away We Go!

It was early…don’t mistake the delirious looks on our faces as a lack of enthusiasm

Baughers are on the move again! We waved goodbye to the best Airport Taxi, Tipton, as she is missing this trip to spend Christmas with her mom. It’s been ages since we planned and executed an epic journey (Thanks, COVID), but we’ve got one heck of an adventure ahead! And no great adventure comes without a few bumps and bruises. Our first flights to London were canceled and it took many hours to get them resorted. Bright side – we found out on Tuesday night, so we had some time to rearrange. Now we’re flying from Austin via DFW to Helsinki with a super long layover. Bright side – we avoid bad weather and intense security in London and the layover allows some blogging time I couldn’t seem to find before we left.

Brightest side of all? I’m just so stoked that I get to travel again, that I barely feel these early bumps and bruises of adventuring. Lots to catch you up on, so let’s get to it.

Trip Page:

If you missed it, check out the complete Finland Trip with: Trip Itinerary, Map, Packing List, Gear and Snacks.

Winter Gear:

I’ve had some questions about more specifics on our Winter Gear, so I’ll pull together a separate post and add it to the Gear section as well. I will also post a Recap of Winter Gear upon our return to let you know what worked or didn’t.

Baxter:

For those of you wondering about our furry friend…Baxter stayed home for this adventure. We tried a new pet/house sitting option over Thanksgiving, Trusted House Sitters. Basically, they provide a forum for people to match a pet/house sitting opportunity with people looking for a pet/house sitter. The company performs a background check, ID check and you can see review from previous sitter and host to check the prospects out. You post a listing of your home, pet and dates and sitters apply for the gig. You can conduct a FaceTime interview and browse their reviews before making a selection. You pay a few bucks for the company to conduct the background checks and host the site, but you don’t pay the sitters. They get a lovely place to stay in a cool city in exchange for taking care of your pet. It was a great experience over Thanksgiving, and we were fortunate enough to secure the same person for our Christmas trip. Follow the link here if you’d like to learn more. I already miss his snuggles. Bright side – he is in his own home and will have someone to adore him in our absence.

Packing:

Packing is NEVER something I enjoy. It doesn’t matter if I’m packing for a weekend or for a month. I hate it. Bright side – I completed a trial pack about a week ago to test out luggage size and weight before we decided to just check our bags, and pretty much had it all pulled together. Extra space allowed for a couple of additions to keep things interesting!

Representing TRPD (Lincoln’ select baseball team) internationally

We did loosely plan out Lincoln’s packing, but between the AirPod that seems to be permanently attached to his left ear, practicing his baseball swing or blocking shots from the imagined basketball player constantly charging towards him…it took some time. Then, there was the jacket issue. Do you remember the scene from A Christmas Story where Randy can’t put his arms down in his snow suit? Lincoln looked like that, and worse – he felt like that.  We purchased a winter coat for Lincoln last winter – a full size larger than he needed. It fit him three weeks ago. That’s less than a month ago! Yesterday, it did not. Fortunately, his ski jacket still fits. We could continue in this way for all of his jeans, snow boots, hat…you get the picture. The boy never stops eating…and growing. Just ask him. He’s proud to say that he is now taller me.

If you’re looking for the Packing List, you can find it here

Lists & Leaving:

The to-do list for leaving town is impossibly long no matter how much you prepare in advance. So many things still need to be done the day before you leave. So, by the time I ticked all of the boxes on the list, got myself packed and collapsed onto my luxurious bed with perfect pillows and settled in with a curled up Baxter next to me, it was a full fifteen hours after I started. I was beat…too beat. I tossed and turned for another two hours, much to the annoyance of Baxter who finally cozied up to the perfectly still, sound asleep, Bryan, before I finally drifted off to dreamland.

4:56am came fast, and I was off to the races once again. Packed and out the door by 6:42am with bags checked and to our gate by 7:30p. From door to gate in 45min is a pretty good start. A very quick up and down to Dallas. Now for the long wait before the long haul to Helsinki. But waiting isn’t too bad with these two…

We shall see what tomorrow brings!

Up Next…Helsinki Day 1!