I was last discussing the amount of preparation it took when I made extended trips during my late 20’s. I’m going to jump forward 30 years to today and start examining how the amount of effort has grown. The ‘to do’ list is now much longer. Why is that?
It is obvious to you that life gets more complicated as we pass through it. Think of your own life and how much more you have to do on a daily basis. Got a spouse and some kids? Then your tasks increase exponentially.
During the first part of life, we are compelled to spend a lot of time, money and energy getting in step with our perception of what it means to be a member of either our own peer group or of a peer group into which we aspire. We constantly compare ourselves and our ‘situation’ in life with our peers, relatives, movie stars, tycoons, professional athletes – anyone we know or read about who has a better paying job, bigger house(s), more exotic and frequent vacations. This is especially compelling in a free-market, capitalist society in which I was, quite by chance, born – the good old USA. Which brings up the question many travelers surely must ask themselves when visiting foreign places, “What quirk of fate caused me to be born where my passport says?” I could just as easily been a human being brought into this world in Sumatra or Switzerland. But that is a whole other topic, perhaps to be explored another time.
Let’s get back to those activities that help us carve out our place in society, you know, getting that college degree, finding a spouse who will at once, make us whole and who will best fulfill our evolutionary obligation to procreate, finding a job that will pay us more and more money so we can buy more and more things. All these things conspire to add baggage to our lives, mostly in a good way (that hot tub on the deck sure feels good after mowing the yard) but not necessarily creating a life that gives us flexibility (the hot tub has to be drained before going on that winter vacation).
In preparing for this upcoming hiatus from the life I'm now leading, I had a heck-of-a-lot of stuff to do before I could take off for even the relatively short time of one to three months. I don't think this preponderance of chores was unnecessary nor was it the result of anal-retentive behavior – although I could be wrong.There are so many things to do that I found I had to make lists on many pages, organized into a variety of categories: house, finances, communications, my will, my cat, not to mention what to take and what to do on the trip.The following list contains some of the most important things I had to do. Is it exhausting but not exhaustive.
Update my will
House security
Health insurance
Lodging for my cat
Yard maintenance
Clean out refrigerator
Make airline reservations
Some technology: laptop, software, files (I will be maintaining several Web Sites while on this trip)
Communications: Update email addresses, get a Skype account (cheap telephone calls using my PC and the Internet)
Photo equipment: Digital camera, digital video camera, recharging apparatus for all that stuff.
Fortunately, all my recurring bills and deposits are handled electronically but I did go to my bank (credit union) and let them know that there would be some European activity on my credit cards.
There was also a bit of advanced communications with friends living in Europe. I have been in touch with some of them during the past 30 years, more recently via email, so it was easy to correspond with them and arrange some time together. A few more international phone calls and emails to a few hotels and my plans were taking shape.
Stay tuned: This blog will now evolve into a journal, interspersed with thoughts I might have while traveling. There will also be some photographs.
