Going Minimal vs. Excess

So I'm trying to syphon through the endless possibilities of what to brink (read:wear) while on vacay in Egypt, Germany and London. I'm trying to go super minimal, like a tiny carry-on size bag that would make it way easier to travel around with. I recall being in London and France the last time I was there and having to haul a giant bag with only half wheels around the greater western European area. Navigating through Euston to Paddington to catch the Eurostar on the eve of a bank holiday, bogged down by a fucking 50 lbs. bag of shite really sucked. It f--ing totally sucked.

And I swore then and there that the next time I returned to Europe i would a) have enough $$ to NOT stay in Hostels and b) not have such a cumbersome, heavy bag. So I'm going really really light, like one pair of jeans, a few Ts a dress and like 8 pairs of shoes. Thoughts?

Meglomaniacal Anna

Who thinks I'm a meglomaniac?

Behind the Choclates and Flowers

This is an excerp from www.democracynow.org :
On Valentine's Day, chocolate is the currency in which people are supposed to trade their love. Little do they know that chocolate might have been made with slave labor. Along with flowers and jewelry, Valentine's Day is the holiday of chocolate. Lots of chocolate. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, caramel-filled chocolate, chocolate hearts, chocolate kisses.

On Valentine's Day, chocolate is the currency in which people are supposed to trade their love. Little do they know that chocolate might have been made with slave labor. Over 40 percent of the world’s cocoa, the primary ingredient in chocolate, comes from West African nation of the Ivory Coast.

The State Department estimates that over one hundred thousand children in the Ivory Coast’s cocoa industry work under “the worst forms of child labor.” Some ten thousand children are victims of human trafficking or enslavement. These child workers labor for long, punishing hours, using dangerous tools and facing frequent exposure to dangerous pesticides as they travel great distances in the grueling heat. Those who labor as slaves must also suffer frequent beatings and other cruel treatment. While the Ivory Coast supplies more of the world's cocoa beans than anywhere else, Americans, for their part, are some of the world's biggest buyers ­ spending some $13 billion dollars a year on chocolate. And US chocolate manufacturers continue to purchase and reap profits from child labor.