Pale Blue Eyes Trip Overview: $327 SFO to Iceland, Lithuania, Latvia, Stockholm

7 Comments

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  bluecat April 13, 2017

  How did the packing work out for you? Would you have thought a 2nd pair of pants useful. (Can be locally purchased, you know).

  Also, not sure what kind of parka you took but it might have been worth ditching it after Iceland (especially if it’s an old one.)

  Would like to hear about any money saving food tips too. For example, did you get free breakfasts everywhere?
• 

  Ric Garrido April 13, 2017

  @bluecat – I packed:
  1 pair Levi black jeans
  belt
  sweater
  4 t-shirts,
  2 long sleeve shirts,
  1 dress shirt,
  1 long thermal underwear,
  goretex rain coat,
  gore tex rain pants,
  1 pair exercise shorts,
  5 pair underwear,
  5 pair short exercise socks,
  3 pair long wool socks,
  leather gloves,
  neck scarf,
  wool beanie cap (essential winter travel accessory I purchased in Slovakia last December)
  winter parka
  Merrill hiking shoes.

  Laptop, two battery packs and charger, iphone, DSLR camera, water bottle, washcloth, razor, toothbrush, tooth paste, about 7 plastic baggies (5 qt size, two gallon size), spork, two plastic shopping bags (Europe requires payment for grocery bags).

  One of the plastic shopping bags was primarily used to carry my parka for the entire trip after leaving Iceland.

  The only thing I did not wear was the dress shirt and I did not use the neck scarf. I could have left parka at home (my original packing plan) and packed an extra pair of pants in the space of my goretex raincoat. Another pair of pants is only clothing item I wish I had packed, but no space. And of course, waterproof shoes would have been nice addition for snow days in Iceland.

  I layered wearing t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, sweater and rain coat for my upper body most days and took off or added clothes as temperature and weather conditions changed.
  Underwear, jeans, small socks, wool socks and shoes were my standard lower body covering.

  Even when temperature in 30s, I was comfortable with layered clothes. Changing t-shirts every day and wearing long sleeve shirt over t-shirt kept my sweater from getting stinky, even when sweating from 6 to 8 hours walking each day. There were two warm days when I was able to walk around for hours in a t-shirt.

  Most days I wore both small socks and wool socks, which kept my shoes from getting smelly. On two days when temperature in 60s, I only wore one pair of short socks and shoes got smelly. Those were also the days I did the most walking around Vilnius and Riga.

  I washed socks, underwear and t-shirts every few days.

  I only wore long underwear and parka in Iceland for warmth. My parka is a quality winter parka, no dumping it. Long underwear I wore in hotel rooms when I kept window open and it was too cold to be in shorts, but I wanted a change from my jeans I lived in most of the trip.

  What I would change: Second pair of pants would have been great. I checked jeans with smell test and they passed each day. Black jeans do not show much dirt. I had to wash off a little mud on my pants from Iceland.

  Unfortunately, I could not add more stuff to my backpack. It was stuffed. The only additions were paper city guides from each city and two t-shirts. Only my last flight on Norwegian back home to California allowed extra bag for free and I brought food for the flight in that extra bag. All three other flights only allowed one carry on bag and that was my backpack.

  I stuffed my rain pants and goretex raincoat in parka sleeves to carry on plane, leaving more room in my pack. Only items I purchased were two t-shirts in Vilnius. I had two older t-shirts I could have tossed if necessary.

  The only real addition I wish I had brought, and could have bought on trip, were more plastic bags. These were useful for transporting food when traveling through Lithuania and Latvia by train and bus. For example, I purchased a doner plate (meat, salad, fries) 30 minutes before boarding bus in Kaunas that the restaurant packed in styrofoam. I ate half at restaurant and dumped remainder of the food in one quart plastic sealed baggie for the 3 hour bus ride to Klaipeda. Plastic bags are great for transporting food. One gallon plastic baggie holds a whole roast chicken.

  Only hotels without free breakfast were Hilton Reykjavik and Radisson Blu Klaipeda. Funny thing is Radisson Blu asked me at check-in if I wanted to add breakfast for 8,000 Club Carlson points.

  I could have booked a Business Class room upgrade with breakfast for 7,500 points, if I wanted to spend the extra points.

  In the Baltics, I ate at restaurants everyday since prices so low. Lunch and dinner meals ranged $3 to $8 for Turkish doner meals to seafood main courses. Ate a few $4-$5 hamburger meals at pubs.
• 

  bluecat April 13, 2017

  Thanks for the thorough response.

  I like to pack a turtleneck “underarmour-like” (i.e., no logo) shirt that I can get at Walmart or Target: it’s great for layering and can be worn as a long sleeve “dinner shirt” too.

  I find I always need a second pair of pants and I go with zip offs. These convert to shorts (also good for the gym) and are much thinner than jeans (i.e., take up very little room).

  I like your idea of the bags. I usually pack a couple of freezer bags and also one of those drawstring garbage bags (with deodorizer built-in). I never pack a sweater…prefer a light rain jacket (Columbia Sportswear makes a nice black one). I definitely pack gloves too.

  But I really try hard to underpack, thinking that it’s fun to buy something if I need it (but not shooting for that as a goal!). I *always* seem to pack something that was not required and that generally irks me.

  Just got back from a week in China where the flights were about $500 for 2 cities. You could do even better with the fares I’m seeing from SFO.
• 

  Ric Garrido April 14, 2017

  Normally I would pack zip-off pants too. Should have done that this trip. They were left out at last second when my bag filled up with other essentials.

  I love my sweater with two zip pockets. I need the pockets for my eyeglass and sunglass cases. It is my most frequently worn piece of clothing on winter trips with raincoat or parka.

  Lots of pubs are fairly cold in winter and I don’t want to wear my raincoat or parka inside.

  Told my wife we can load up on stuff this summer when we go back to Baltics and Poland. We are flying SAS and United and we will have free checked bag and carry-on. I can pack my backpack even lighter in summer, so I’ll have plenty of bag capacity for purchases.
• 

  soren April 14, 2017

  Excellent and interesting post ! You touched many places I have yet to go.
  I never wash socks, underwear or T shirts on a trip.
  I take my older stuff, discard it on the way, and buy new to take home.
  My favorite stock-up store for socks u/wear etc is Marks and Spencer in London.
  Like you, I do one pair pants, one pair shorts (in summer) one pair shoes, 2 x T’s long sleeve, 2 x short sleeve, 4 x underwear, 4 x socks, one dress shirt, Columbia rainproof roll-up jacket, one cap, one beanie and a ton of tech.

  Off topic: Just planning an AMS / UK London trip…using up my remaining Carlson points….then first time using IHG points in London. Club Carlson redemption is crazy high now. No property in London under 50k, and most increased to 70k pn.
  Probably going to try the newly opened IHG Staybridge suites Vauxhall, and the new Park Plaza Waterloo.

  Soren
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  Ric Garrido April 15, 2017

  @Soren – I hate shopping for clothes, especially in winter when wearing winter gear for walking around in the cold and I get too hot in stores. Laundry is usually no issue in winter where many European hotels have towel rack heaters in the bathroom. My clothes usually dry within 8-12 hours.

  I found better deals booking IHG hotels on paid rates than using points for my last few trips in London. Mostly paid under $100 per night for hotels like Holiday Inn Kensington and Holiday Inn Commercial Road in Whitechapel area of East London. Enjoyed both locations.
• 

  Soren April 26, 2017

  Ric said:
  I found better deals booking IHG hotels on paid rates than using points for my last few trips in London. Mostly paid under $100 per night for hotels like Holiday Inn Kensington and Holiday Inn Commercial Road in Whitechapel area of East London. Enjoyed both locations.

  S: Hey Ric, Yes I confer. I enjoyed your review of the HI Whitechapel. Not an area I would have chosen but definitely worthy of consideration. I am watching the old HI Kings Cross which is undergoing reno and re-branding as CP…for any value paid stay opps. You can’t reserve beyond 8/31 thus far. That area was severely on the lo down when I lived there…now it’s coming up.
  I was in LAS last week, a terrible city for IHG redemption – thru the roof and the quality of props poor. I’ll wait for the free night on the M/C re-up to snag a night at Palazzo or Venetian next trip.
  Still grieving Prince + death of democracy in the USA. Heaven help us.
  As always, Love the blog….Peace
  S

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