What Fanny Pack?

My poor friend Sarah, had to sit down and take some deep breaths on Sunday when she heard a rumor that I had been traipsing all over Europe with a fanny pack attached to me!

I am admitting nothing.

Now some reasons why one MIGHT think it MAY be a good idea to have a fanny pack as a mother of four children who is on a nine month jaunt around Europe are as follows:

*Passports. They are vitally important while traveling. We used them every time we traveled. If one or all of them had been lost or stolen we would have seen Polish red tape that would stretch to eternity. We would have been stuck in Poland and then thrown in jail for being there illegally! I really had no desire to have to contact the US Embassy in Warsaw. Right now as I sit in my own home, I am not even sure which bag the passports are stashed in. In Poland I always knew exactly where they were at all times.

*Credit cards. While we were in Poland, one of our credit cards expired in March. We did not ever receive the new one over there. In fact I think I will call them today to get that taken care of. Then my debit card was canceled because of some breach of security here in the US (some general thing with hundreds of cards--not my card specifically). I still don't know what happened exactly. They did send a replacement card. But since our mail was being forwarded, and credit cards usually are not forwarded, it was sent back to the bank. That left us with ONE credit/debit card that had to be protected at all costs. Myles and I each had one, and keeping them secure was high priority.

*Public Transportation. We did not have a car in Poland. So we took trams and buses or walked everywhere we went. These modes of transportation are frequently crowded. There is a lot of jostling around. There are often reports of purses being stolen and/or things being stolen out of purses. Also, we had public transportation passes. When a transportation checker boards the bus or tram, people have to show their passes. It might be a big pain to have to search through a purse for them while holding on for dear life as the Polish drivers take us for a ride.

*Groceries. Since we did not have a car, we walked to the grocery store almost every day. Carrying bags of groceries 3/4 of a mile is heavy work. Having to carry a purse in addition to our groceries just might be the straw that sends the camel into a complete meltdown.

I brought home four super cute purses, so even IF I might have had a fanny pack in my wardrobe in Poland, I sure don't need it anymore! Again, I'm not admitting anything, I'm just saying it MIGHT have been the smartest option given the circumstances. And I'm sure my girls Ivija and Claudia will never tell! Oh, no! Proof...

Oh, and by the way, I've put the tennis shoes away, too!