The piazza in Pisa, Italy is one of the most beautiful in the world, and a popular place for tourists to picnic while taking in a little sightseeing. There are other things to see in Pisa as well, as the city has been around for generations.

Flickr Photo Credit: Johan Larsson

If you’ve been a reader of this blog for a while now, you know that David and I are big fans of the picnic option while on the road.

It’s a great way to have a fantastic, low stress, low cost experience against some of the best views in the world (Petra, Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu). While I was searching around for new material today, I ran across this article on packing a picnic kit. I have to admit, before I clicked the link to read it, I was completely sceptical. So often, these things are written by people who think they understand what it means to conserve space, but have obviously never had to lug all of their belongings on a long term trip. However, I was pleasantly surprised. This article has pictures of how the kit is assembled, demonstrating just how much space (or how little) is needed to have one of these on hand. We do ours a bit differently, but I have to say I’m in full support of the philosophy behind this travel tip.

Some of our favorite picnic menus? Getting creative with sandwich ideas, the old wine-cheese-fruit-bread combo and a Middle East menu of dates, hummus and flatbread.