Hello. This is Sophia! You might be interested to know that our first stop is going to be Paris. We recently rented a charming apartment wih a grand view of the eiffel tower. We will be staying there for nearly a week, which will give us plenty of time to enjoy all of the fun things Paris has to offer (which is a lot). The apartment is situated on a street that hosts a local market twice a week, which, of course, will be a delight to my dad, who will really want to buy some cheese. The man who rented us the apartment was born in Paris, and was kind enough to offer to show us around. All of these things combined have gotten me very excited. Our first day in Paris will be August 1st, as expected, but we are leaving our home with our bags strapped to our backs on July 31st. Well, we might just have 366 days abroad, but the more time we have to travel the better. I am trying not to have immensely high expectations for Paris, but it’s like Harvard or Disney Land. Everyone knows the name, and it’s a bit magical really in the sense that people who have never even been there have these huge fantasies about travelling there. I trust, though, that Paris will be a delight, especially if we relax.

We now have 69 days until our trip, about two months. We recently spent a week up in Portland to see Raisa’s ice skating competition. Raisa got   2nd place, but we still think the other girl was related to one of the judges. 😉 During our stay in Portland, we shopped for gear, and I ended up finding my pack. It fits me perfectly. It’s the Mountain Smith Youth Pursuit 45L. The hip pads (or straps, I don’t know what to call them) sit at the perfect position on my hips, and it takes a lot of weight off of my shoulders. It has three extra pockets (not including the huge main pocket where most of my things will be stored),two on the side and one down the back. It also has another handy feature, which is a zipper that opens the bottom of the pack so you can grab stuff from the bottom easily. The last helpful feature I will describe is the mesh holders on either side. I think these are going to be very helpful for things like water that should be easily accessable. I can also rejoyce at the fact that stuff won’t fall out of them because there are straps you can pull to tighten the pocket/bags. Not only did we get my pack, but we found ultra-lightweight sleeping bags that are also highly compressable. They were a great deal at $30, especially for their weight, which is 1.4 pounds. Each one of us will have one for the occasion that we have to stay in an old hotel, or the instance that someone’s house doesn’t have enough blankets. I inserted two photos above. thought that you (whoever is reading this) would like to see what my 45 liter pack looks like. The pack section is large, but the frame of the backpack is small, as it is designed for a kid. Be sure to notice the video, too. 😉IMG_2301