On the Road Again

Every so often it happens that Steve's job and mine go through almost concurrent spates of travel. We are just nearing the end of one such period.

I'll be home just long enough to wash
my underwear and re-pack my suitcase.

I used to envy Steve all the travel he did for work - especially when I was a stay-at-home mom and we couldn't afford hotel vacations. I coveted the thrill of flying to new places, the pleasure of sleeping in a crisply made bed, having a bathroom that was polished daily, eating every meal in a restaurant. All this without the continual interruptions of little people clamouring to have their bottoms wiped. (Or worse, not clamouring, but not doing it themselves, either.)

But I've done more traveling with my last job and this one, and the bloom is off the rose. I now acknowledge the tedium of spending hours in airport concourses, missing flights, or having bags searched. I have a greater appreciation for the feeling of mild panic when things go sideways at home while I'm away and can do nothing to set things right. I've seen how life gets put "on hold" when one of us is away.

I guess, as with most things in life, moderation is a good thing. I do like to travel - both for work and for pleasure - and I certainly enjoy hotel living, but I also like being home. Home is such a very good thing.

It's been a crazy couple of months, and I'm looking forward to having a stay-cation later this summer, once I put my suitcase in longer-term storage.