There’s still lots of travel in store before we head off on the round-the-world adventure the planning of which has been consuming my energy lately.

In a couple of days we’re off on our fifth Viking river cruise, this time for 16 days on the Danube, from Bucharest Romania to Vienna Austria, book-ended by two long travel days, and preceded by 3 days in Toronto reconnecting with son #1 and their family.

That means packing for a total of 3 weeks, taking into account both Ontario’s and Europe’s unseasonably hot late summer weather.

As usual, we are travelling “carry-on only”, although because our flight from Toronto to Bucharest has a 3 hour layover in Amsterdam Schipol, (which we’re confident is plenty of time to get a piece of checked luggage transferred between planes) we’ll check the bags instead of dragging them around with us. Of course Ted will keep his tech backpack with him, and I’ll carry a small duffel with our shoes, and a pretty shoulder bag for in-transit needs.

Weather is the biggest factor in what we’ll pack, so I did a quick search using both Google and WeatherSpark to see typical September trends and added a chart to my Notepad app, which is also where I keep our packing lists until it’s time to actually load suitcases.

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Those temperatures are right in our “sweet spot” – warm enough that no jackets are needed, but not scorching hot. But then, a week before our departure date, I did a deeper dive into the actual 14 day forecasts and discovered that THIS year the September daily highs along our Danube route are trending 5 to 10 degrees higher than average – all over 30°C/86°F until we get to Budapest.

In each city, we’re doing mostly walking tours, so neat casual clothes and footwear suitable for cobblestones will suffice. Despite the heat, we’ll pack several long-sleeved shirts as sun protection. We can always roll up the sleeves, and in the case of my shirts I can layer them over camisoles and leave them unbuttoned. As usual, I don’t really wear jeans in Europe when it’s warm, although I’ll pack Ted’s.

Shipboard dinners on a river cruise are “business casual”, so exchanging our daytime tops for nicer shirts, and exchanging running/walking shoes for something a bit less “sturdy” is all that’s actually required. That won’t prevent me from slipping on a simple (and cool) maxi sundress on a couple of evenings, and upgrading my jewellery look.

This 3 week wardrobe, without self-serve laundry facilities, will be good practice for next year’s extended 5 month land tour, which will involve the same amount of luggage (minus my shoulder bag, to eliminate feeling like a pack-horse on public transit).

Taking pictures of what’s in our cases comes in handy not only for future packing, but also to determine replacement value should our luggage ever get truly lost.

So here’s what’s in our suitcases. Mine first … of course!

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For me, it’s also all about accessories, especially earrings, so I filled a small pouch with a variety of costume jewellery.

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By using our luggage’s custom-sized packing cube for my shirts (more to mitigate wrinkles than for gaining space), putting all the pants in the suitcase’s zippered compartment in the lid, and tucking the folded raincoat in the outer pocket, everything except shoes fit into a single carryon that weighed in at exactly 22 pounds (10 kg).

I’m not generally a fan of packing cubes, because (1) they weigh as much as a shirt or dress, so are taking the place of actual clothing, and (2) I can compress my clothing just as well using the built-in suitcase “ties”, but in a case where I’m not doing laundry and ironing, hopefully they’ll prove worthwhile.

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Ted’s travel wardrobe also fits into a single carryon suitcase, again by packing his raincoat in the outer pocket and his pants in the zipped lid. Had we each needed a light jacket, Ted’s would still fit into his suitcase, and I’d swap out a couple of shirts and a cardigan for mine, but that’s a consideration we can defer until next time.

At the last minute I did add Ted’s windbreaker, although I expect he won’t need it until our trip home. I’ll use my raincoat as a windbreaker if it becomes necessary to supplement a cardigan worn over long sleeves.

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That’s it. Packed and ready to go!

Next up: our pre-cruise days in Toronto.