I have a trip out of the country coming up in two weeks, so I’m all anxiety about packing and making sure my work is up to date. There is so much to do before I leave that my mind refuses to think about it, so I’m certain I’ll end up in a panic, trying to get things done in the very last minute.

I’ll be gone for two weeks, and that in itself frightens me as I’m usually only gone for a week. The last time I left for two weeks was when I left for Australia, and when I got back, my personal and home situation was completely changed for the worse and my work was impossibly backed up for more than the time I was gone. In other words, the trip itself was great, but coming back from it was a special kind of hell.

Also, this time, I’m considering bringing my work with me, which I’ve never really done before. I’m not even sure I can do so successfully as it means seeing to a bunch of logistics I’d really rather not contemplate. This being out of the country, for one, makes the logistics ten times more complicated. When I landed in Australia, I had no use of my cellphone until I somehow managed to reach my service provider and get hooked up to their local partner, and then when I got home, I had a giant of a bill waiting for me — and this was all simply in the interest of keeping in touch with H.E. on a daily basis. In this case, I’ll want to be able to keep in touch with work and perhaps do some work as well, so I can only imagine how much more troublesome and expensive that will be.

So yes, I’m excited about my upcoming trip … and also dreadfully anxious about it.

But I will get to spend time with my mother and my aunt, in places and countries I’ve never seen, and that’s always nice. H.E. insisted that I not pass up the opportunity, so I didn’t. Since moving out of the house, I haven’t really spent much extended time with my family — a day or two at the very most — and I used to be so close with them. We took a lot of trips in my childhood, to national parks, to other tourist destinations, and to Canada to visit other family. It seemed like there were always parties and get-togethers as I grew up, potluck buffets at least once a month, aunts and cousins coming over for a quick visit every weekend — easy to do because we most of us lived in San Diego county somewhere. But now that I live in Orange County, it’s a big deal just to have a lunch with my sister and cousins once or twice a year, and when I go to my mother’s house on major holidays, I request Filipino home cooking because I never really get to eat much of my childhood favorite foods any more.

So I will be keeping busy in the meantime, working to get ahead in my assignments, and planning for the trip itself. Hopefully, this time next month, I will have tons of new photos to show and another series of blog posts in the Travel category.

Something to anticipate. 🙂

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