Four Days and Counting

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Four days to go, and I feel as if we haven't done enough, but I'll always feel that way. It comes with the anxiety of being a homebody, I'd just a soon stay at home and never leave the comfort and safety of my routines. Don't get me wrong, they have value, especially with children, but the overall experience of traveling is such a rewarding experience, it's difficult to really grasp it unless you've done it a lot. For me, who grew up never really leaving the home, it still gives me anxiety, but the kids love it and I've yet to regret a trip and we always come back from a vacation filled with wonderful memories, even when lots of crappy stuff happens, and crappy stuff always happens.

That's the difficulty of travel for me, not knowing what's going to happen. The unknown, I've never really been comfortable with it, which is ironic because when you really get down to it, life is all about the unknown. Things never turn out the way you plan them, and as hard as we try, we can't control the world, even though we try so hard.

And that's the way we approach travel. Sure, there are things you have to plan for; logistical things, like a roof over your head and when to show up at the airport, but for the most part, the best trips for us have been the ones where you, to the best of your abilities, let thing unfold without too much planning.

It makes travel less predictable and maybe even a little less comfortable, but for an uptight, anxious worry-wort as myself, it is truly a growing experience, on a spiritual and practical level. You just learn to deal with things, and it helps to clarify that for most problems, it's not the end of world, even though we make it out to be.

And for kids, it's just a great, growing experience. Every trip we've taken, I've witnessed a noticeable difference in Audrey and Nicholas. They seem to make leaps and bounds in terms of their maturity, and it goes a long way in teaching them that the world is a wondrous place, not something to be feared, and well worth exploring.

I'll probably be increasing my posts as the trip draws closer and my stress level rises, but for now, it's still a bit in the abstract, so I'm not too stressed. Maybe it's a survival tactic. Who knows?

Until the next time, thanks for reading.

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