So many tasks – big and small -to take care of before we head off for 3 months. The big deal items are taken care of and we’re now down to details. There’s a house to pack, as well as light suitcases to help us with not only a transcontinental flight, but a long-term stay away from home. We find ourselves balancing the idea of what we need to bring and what we can pick up along the way or when we get there.
With so much to do, I find myself focusing on minor details that should probably be lowest on my list. I am suddenly seeking children’s magazines for travel, considering making crayon rolls with spare fabric, and wondering whether or not 
a journal will rob me of precious space. Meanwhile, my husband forges ahead in organizing, a task saved until after his last final on Tuesday morning.
I feel as though panic should overwhelm me, but I’m feeling strangely calm. The details aren’t all mine and I followed my husband’s advice to wait for him to do big time packing. This left me room to take care of other details and embrace the experience as “ours.” I’m embracing the concept of asking myself what I need and being clear about what I will do (mostly setting a boundary for myself, rather than anyone else).
In my final therapy session a couple of weeks ago, my therapist asked me, Are you going to keep a journal?
I responded, A private one?
She laughed and replied, Yes, a private one. Isn’t funny that we are at a place culturally where we have to differentiate between the two?
I will, of course, be blogging about my adventure, but I plan to keep a paper journal as well – one with an audience of one, pen to paper, recording as I go. Perhaps I’ll share some of it one day; maybe it will finally inspire me to meet some of my larger writing aspirations. Maybe it will simply be a record uninhibited. Either way, I can’t wait to get writing.
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