Getting Ready to Leave...Again

This is our TURO ride from Will Xu. We picked it up at the SFO parking garage We rented his 2011 Honda Accord back in 2023 and decided to use his vehicle again.

Gosh, we just got back to Smithville, TX and it's time to leave again. However, this time without the fifth wheel. International this time not domestic, well kind of. We've been packing and repacking since we got back to Smithville trying to re-train our old habits and limit our luggage to carry-on only. Our trip this time began in California for a week to attend a wedding on Friday October 17. We left on Friday, October 10 from Austin, Texas arriving in San Francisco so we can have a whole week to visit with family and friends. Our base was in Healdsburg at Greg and Lorri Herrick's BnB barn. Karen had a busy schedule already planned to see friends and a day at the Total Concepts office to help out while we're in town. I attended my last Coast Guard Auxiliary meeting in Petaluma and made arrangements to transfer to the Austin, Texas flotilla.

Portia, Eli, Silas, Owen and Karen at our boarding gate in SFO on departure day for Turkey.

After the wedding on Friday we returned to the San Francisco airport (SFO) to return our Turo rental car before leaving on Turkish Airlines for Istanbul, Turkey. We will be traveling with Richard and Portia Schneider and their three sons, Eli (age 6), Owen (age 10) and Silas (age 12) for two weeks. Our itinerary includes three days exploring the city of Istanbul before flying to Cappadocia, Turkey for another three days, then on to Antalya, Turkey on the Turkish Rivera for three more days. We will end our trip with a bus ride to Izmir, Turkey so we can visit the ancient city of Ephesus.

With the flight to Turkey about 13 hours long we decided to explore another option back to the US. and will travel back to the U.S. by cruise ship instead of flying. We found a great deal on Princess Cruise Lines, a 15 day repositioning cruise out of Barcelona, Spain. So on October 30 we will fly out of Izmir, Turkey to Barcelona so we can board the Sun Princess for a November 1 departure. I wonder if they celebrate Halloween in Spain? We are planning on taking a tour of Barcelona on the Hop on, Hop off bus to maximize our time on Friday, October 31.

This is the first time we are traveling with carry-on luggage only. Karen tried really hard to make it work. We have been watching a number of YouTubers on the subject and think we've got a system that will work. We've purchased a number of Merino wool items which are easier to clean, odor resistant and work well in hot or cold environments. The formula is 5 tops ( long/short sleeve mix), 4 bottoms (long pants/shorts mix), 3 layering pieces (light sweater/rain jacket/thermal jacket), 2 pairs of shoes and 1 optional item. The key is to keep a variety of colors that so you can mix different outfits from your packed ensemble. Socks and underwear for 5 days is not included this formula but goes without saying.

Our ride to Turkey on Turkish Airlines from SFO is a 13 hour trip to Istanbul.

Time to board! The next post will be from our hotel in Istanbul where east meets west. Ta-ta for now!