I hate to pack. HATE it. Always have, even when travel was as routine to me as driving a half hour to my office every day. I used to have Excel spreadsheets for packing, both personal and business. Now I have the list on my Apple devices. You would think that would take the stress out of the activity, it is certainly a help, but I still dread the prep before a trip. Of course, packing can’t take all the blame. Since we always have a sitter stay at the house with Piper while we are gone, we have to make sure the instructions for his care and our home are thorough, we must get the room ready where the sitter will sleep, the entire place needs a deep clean before we can click the front door locked behind us. It is a lot of work.
The weeks leading up to our last seven day vacation seemed especially difficult for some reason. I began gathering things to put in the suitcases in advance, at least the items we would not need in the days until our departure. There is no avoiding it, though, the 48 hours prior to our leaving is non-stop. I am lucky in that my husband helps with the house prep, but the packing and Piper’s manual are all me. Also, although he provides input, finding our lodging, booking flights (if applicable), choosing a sitter, also fall on me, but, of course, those logistics are handled far ahead of the actual travel.
The eve of our most recent trip, I was sweating as I multitasked at home. Mister Rain and I passed in the hall, I stopped him for a moment. “I don’t know when it will be,” I said, “but at some point during the trip, I will be overcome with gratitude for where we are and what we are experiencing. I will cry, you know I will. When that moment comes, I want you to remind me that this is why we do what we do to get ready.“
On the third day of vacation, I sat overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, showing off its richest blue, the area above the horizon full of white puffy clouds amidst a different, yet equally as gorgeous, blue. My husband, who had gone to do a little exploring while I sat on a bench, thinking how lucky I am to be where I was. I NEVER take our ability to travel for granted. Mister Rain returned to find tears rolling down my face. “This is the moment,” I said. “This is why we kill ourselves beforehand,” he immediately replied.
I hate it when he’s right. But not as much as I hate packing.
#sisterrain #alittlesightalotofheart #legallyblindtraveler #travel #preppingforthemoment
