Enjoying The Ride

Hello friends! I realize it's been a pretty prolonged absence from me here on the blog. What I've recently discovered is that the amount of time you're away on a trip is equal to the amount of time it takes to catch up on your regular life when you get back -- and perhaps even longer if a time difference is involved.

The epic American trip was, well, epic. I was in the U.S. for 3.5 weeks, and the Hub joined me for 2.5 of those. We took a total of six flights, two bus rides and numerous car journeys. We visited five states and sampled four different styles of pizza (Chicago, New York, Buffalo and Wisconsin). And no, we won't pick a favorite. It just wouldn't be fair to anyone. But I will say that the pizza rolls we had in Buffalo at a baseball game (go Bisons!) were a pretty amazing riff on the traditional fare.

We were lowbrow and highbrow. We visited the Georgia O'Keefe museum in New Mexico and went to Ghost Ranch the following day to see the spectacular landscapes that so inspired her.

We toured two Frank Lloyd Wright homes in two states and learned all about this great American architect. We also toured the Jersey Shore house in Seaside Heights (architect unknown). But it was the best $10 I've ever spent. And then the Hub had his first ever funnel cake afterwards on the boardwalk.

We met our amazing new niece. And then some adorable new cousins too. We caught up with some family I hadn't seen in eight years -- and some the Hub had never met. It was really special. There was sitting around the fire pit at night roasting marshmallows, tubing on the lake and water sliding (and we all know that going to a water park is pretty close to Nirvana: see post Forget Your Worries And Break Out Your Bathing Suit). It felt a little bit like being a kid again, particularly having handstand contests in the pool with my 16-year-old cousin, who told us that he learned about Brexit on Snap Chat. (I so need to get onto that...)

There was an 18-hole game of golf in the rain (where I had a bit of a sense of humor meltdown on hole 14) and then getting caught under a tarp in another downpour at Ghost Ranch, which reminded me of the truth that sometimes it's the unexpected moments that can make the best memories.

To be very honest about this trip: I was apprehensive of its nature. I not only have homebody tendencies, but masked by my exterior social nature, I need a good chunk of time on my own to recharge. I clearly didn't get any of that. In fact, the only time even the Hub and I had on our own was our barely-24-hours together in Chicago.

But expectation is everything and it helped that I was prepared for the fact that the nonstop schedule and living out of our (three) small suitcases might be tough. I did an incredible amount of planning for this visit which helped me relax more and just enjoy it. There were a few times when I did have a bit of a internal wobble about something or other, but  then I pulled myself back and remembered that this trip was about seeing lots of people who I care about and to really just enjoy the ride (see me taking my own advice in the tubing photo).

It was great to learn that with enough planning I could do this kind of epic trip and really, really enjoy it. I love travelling, but not everyone likes doing it the same way. Also, it reminded me that the one real advantage of being a homebody is that I don't mind coming home: It's nice to be back, and it's nice to be back on the blog.