A few days before taking off to Europe, I checked with my Orlando Doctor Angel Ho. Mostly I wanted to be sure I had a refill on prescriptions. I had another sonogram of my ankles and the loud creepy heartbeat proved that I am still alive. She did refill the prescriptions but only for a month. Since I will be in Europe for 3 to 4 months, I jokingly said I would just stop taking the medicine. She advised against that and said that they sell drug in Europe, and I should be able to find a supplier. I will cross that bridge when I get to it.
Just carrying my huge turtle backpack will be building my back and shoulder muscles. Running around the metro station must be helping my heart health. I discovered that hiking the Paris metro stations is a serious workout. Besides the backpack I also carry my art day bag that goes everywhere with me. That bag is heavy because to the large sketchbook I have decided to carry. Te shoulder strap pinches into neck and shoulder like Spokes Vulcan grip. Fr a while I tried hanging the bag off of both shoulders which evened out the weigh distribution.
I kind of regret taking along the laptop, which is the heaviest thing in the bag, but I am happily typing away on it right now. I have an assignment to illustrate a poster for the Florida Film Festival, that is in the works, so it will be good to have the laptop to refine the sketch I submitted.
I also brought along a trench coat which helped keep my legs warm in cold weather. After packing away all my belongings into a u-Haul storage facility, I realized that I had forgotten to put the trench coat in a box. Buy default that meant my subconscious mind was convinced that I would need it in my European travels. I have been wearing that thing every day, so my subconscious mind was right.