travel style
Last weekend, two of my friends from philosophy chat said that they weren't quite sure what they were going to do in Mumbai. Now, since they're returning from Mumbai on January 16, I said, with fantastic incredulity, "You're going to India next month and you don't have an itinerary???", to which J responded (not perfectly calmly), "No, we're going to India next week and we don't have an itinerary."
I couldn't even fit the sentence into my head.
I am Itinerary Girl. Coriander occasionally observes that I've done so much research on a place before we get there, that I give directions and summaries like I've been there before. When the 10-day forecast is available on weather.com, I dutifully copy it onto my Outlook calendar, then use it to make final preparations/changes. (If I had planned museum trips on Monday and a hike on Tuesday, for instance, but it's going to be beautiful Monday and rain on Tuesday, I change the days' plans.) I plan out my clothing ahead of time based on weather and days' activities. I take clothing to the dry cleaner's so it will be back the day before, and make a packing list so I don't forget anything.
I have learned this all from my father, who also masterfully packs items into a suitcase, so that when he unpacks, it looks like some clown or magic demonstration. Next thing you know, he'll be pulling out the compact car that he brought along so that he wouldn't have to rent one. This means that when I travel with my parents, I get the plans several days in advance and can pack accordingly.
Tomorrow I leave for Jackson, then New York. Since the itinerary is beyond my control and has not been shared with me yet, I am looking at this calendar, empty except for the weather, and whimpering. I don't know how to pack. I'm hyperventilating.
UPDATE: There will be horseback riding, bird watching, church (maybe I'll catch a cold), family dinners (a bad one), and ... Coriander's parents are at a loss. They are well aware of the paucity of attractions, and have brainstormed "grabbling". This activity involves hunting catfish by hand. Coriander suggests I might want a cute, algae-eating housepet.
I couldn't even fit the sentence into my head.
I am Itinerary Girl. Coriander occasionally observes that I've done so much research on a place before we get there, that I give directions and summaries like I've been there before. When the 10-day forecast is available on weather.com, I dutifully copy it onto my Outlook calendar, then use it to make final preparations/changes. (If I had planned museum trips on Monday and a hike on Tuesday, for instance, but it's going to be beautiful Monday and rain on Tuesday, I change the days' plans.) I plan out my clothing ahead of time based on weather and days' activities. I take clothing to the dry cleaner's so it will be back the day before, and make a packing list so I don't forget anything.
I have learned this all from my father, who also masterfully packs items into a suitcase, so that when he unpacks, it looks like some clown or magic demonstration. Next thing you know, he'll be pulling out the compact car that he brought along so that he wouldn't have to rent one. This means that when I travel with my parents, I get the plans several days in advance and can pack accordingly.
Tomorrow I leave for Jackson, then New York. Since the itinerary is beyond my control and has not been shared with me yet, I am looking at this calendar, empty except for the weather, and whimpering. I don't know how to pack. I'm hyperventilating.
UPDATE: There will be horseback riding, bird watching, church (maybe I'll catch a cold), family dinners (a bad one), and ... Coriander's parents are at a loss. They are well aware of the paucity of attractions, and have brainstormed "grabbling". This activity involves hunting catfish by hand. Coriander suggests I might want a cute, algae-eating housepet.