Travel and TMI

We're leaving for Boston on Friday morning, the first leg of a month-long trip to England and Switzerland.

The more I work the guidebooks and Trip Advisor, the more I find to worry about.    There are so many variables.

Will the hotel room in Cambridge, MA, be near the elevator and therefore be noisy?  Will the hotel in Oxford (UK) make us stay in a room in the attic?  Back to the hotel in Cambridge--is there a chance we'll be in the vivid-blue room they show on their website?  Because it's too dark.

Anyone else think it's too dark?

Too attic-y?

And the flat in London--will there still be construction going on in the buildings either side because on Google Earth street photos I can see scaffolding ?  That could definitely be noisy.

A kind friend says this level of organizing (and worry) "is part of your process."

Jerry, on the other hand, he thinks trip prep takes about five minutes the night before you leave.  He researches nothing ahead of time.  He goes with the flow, although he's been known to grouse when things go wrong.

I'm taking a deep breath.  First of all, of course these are gold-plated problems.  Second, there's no such thing as a perfect trip, not even one without uncomfortable moments--or longer than moments.  I'm telling myself to forget the details, each of which seems to introduce a new and potentially troublesome variable.   Go with serendipity!

In the meantime:  What about busses from Oxford to Blenheim Palace (vs. taxi's, which cost more but are much quicker)?  Is it worth going to three historic houses in Hampstead Heath?  Is the rental agency serious when they say no washcloths will be provided at the flat?

Below: the staging area in my studio. Quilting is not happening right now.