back in the air

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It’s been a while, but here I am in the air again bound for a foreign destination. This time it is Vancouver, Canada. Not too exotic compared to some of my other travels, but definitely a place that has been on my “to see” list for a long time.

I am staying with A., a flight attendant who found my blog when doing some research online for her own trip to Nepal. We became e-mail pals, and then when she stopped in Kathmandu for a few days prior to a trek through the Himalayas, I showed her around a bit. She graciously offered me her spare bedroom anytime I wanted, so I traded in some of those thousands of frequent flyer miles I had accumulated during my time abroad for a $57 flight to the Canadian west coast.

I am so looking forward this trip! We are planning to “chillax”—lots of yoga, hiking, time on the beach, time outdoors, time in used bookstores and coffee shops. Totally my kind of vacation! Plus, I’m looking forward to being in a big city again where ethnic food is on every block. (The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area of North Carolina has been a bit disappointing in terms of cuisine.)

Work has been stressful lately, so I feel this trip is well deserved. Not only have I been fighting a constant battle in dealing with my supervisor, but prior to this trip I finished up a 50+ page grant proposal I was writing with two other women. The project is to do an evaluation of social services for domestic minors who are victims of trafficking, with funding from the National Institute of Justice. I’m not sure how much of a chance we have of getting it, or how stiff is the competition, but it would be an amazing project to be involved with as a co-investigator. And talk about an amazing opportunity to develop my trafficking work here in the U.S.!

Regardless of the outcome and despite the stress involved in finishing it up, the proposal process has led to the ability to make a few key connections with capable, supportive, and highly intelligent women that I could potentially collaborate with in the future. In the situation with my current supervisor, I sometimes feel so defeated and disappointed and discouraged that I often forget about the fact that normal, supportive colleagues that are fun to work with actually exist! I am still actively applying for other positions in academics because I think that is where I ultimately belong, but at least my connections with these other women is giving me some work to look forward to each day. My office doesn’t feel as much like a dungeon when I am immersed in “mind meld” meetings with colleagues I respect.

Anyway, it will be nice to focus solely on pampering myself, exploring a new place, and getting to know A. better over the next 6 days. I’m smiling to myself thinking about what a nomad I am at heart…I love looking at my passport, reading my Lonely Planet travel guide, and filling out my customs form. Even if I am going to an English speaking city just over the border, I’m thrilled to have the chance to check another destination off my list. I’ve even been tolerant of the pompous guy next to me—a 36-year old lawyer from Tampa with long, slicked back hair, a pin stripped shirt with French cuffs and fancy links who pulled out a stack of hundreds to pay for his Canadian whiskey and got into a conversation about fidelity with the woman on the other side of him. Normally I would be scowling with annoyance, but tonight I am just happy to be in the air again.

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