Internet, I’m having one or two minor problems with anxiety in advance of my deeply imminent travels abroad. It’s crazy – I mean, remember that one time when I LIVED IN EUROPE FOR SIX MONTHS? Why am I freaked out about going back?
Part of it is that Brian isn’t here; he left on Sunday morning, early, to jet out to Washington, D.C. for business. I’m leaving in about 48 hours from now to join him. In the meantime I have to do a whole sh**load of laundry, get my house nice and clean so that my buddy Casey, who is house-and-dogsitting for us, doesn’t have to live in a pig sty.
Last night I stayed up packing – most of my clothes are already crammed tightly into my freshly-Febreezed duffel bag – I REFUSE TO CHECK LUGGAGE. To aid myself while I packed I watched all six episodes of the first series of the BBC black comedy Sensitive Skin, starring the lovely Joanna Lumley (Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous). I only meant to watch one episode. I SWEAR I did but that sh**’s addicting. Careful, though; it’s about the most British thing you’re likely to have seen in awhile.
I’ve got a ton of stuff to do before I leave, including a freelancing deadline for an article I pitched BECAUSE I AM TOTALLY NUTS. In other news, I am the cover author of the local alternative newsweekly – for the second time in a year, holla – so be sure to pick that up if you’re in town.
Maybe it’s the lingering worry of having a largely-uncompleted to-do list hanging over my head, or maybe it’s that I’m always weird when Brian is away, but the past two days my stomach has been fluttering wildly, wobbling so much that I can see it through my shirt. It feels the way that I would imagine a kicking baby does. Also, I’ve become entirely obsessed with my passport, with knowing where it is at all times, to the degree that the first thing I do when I rise and the last thing I do before I go to bed is to check and make sure it’s still in the same place it was. I pick it up, I flip through it a few times, and I set it back down EXACTLY where it was before, but then come the next morning, there I am, rushing to it to make sure it hasn’t been moved, or ran away.
One can only sustain this level of mental illness but for so long; in 48 hours I’ll be in the air and headed east, and when I set down in Washington, D.C. to begin this next adventure I’m sure everything will have come together just as it’s meant to.
Comment by Nikki
I’m curious-why don’t you check luggage?
30 June 2009, 5:52 pm
Comment by Karli
It’s okay, Nate. I got this way all last week before I had some minor surgery. I’d gone through stuff like that before and had plenty of time to mentally prep for it, but I still found myself getting into a tizzy over laundry, grocery shopping, getting a pedicure, blah, blah, blah. Take care to get some extra rest, relax with some Chammomile tea (or tequila – your choice) and make it a point to mellow out and you’ll be fine come travel day.
30 June 2009, 5:58 pm
Comment by Brian
Hey Nikki!
I know Nathan has his own reasons for not checking luggage, but as a somewhat frequent traveler I’ve learned the hard way that if there is *any* way you can get by on carry-on luggage, you’re usually better for it. Some of the advantages are:
* Not having to pay a checked bag fee (on most airlines)
* Not having to get to the airport early enough to have your bag checked, and not having to stay later to pick it back up at baggage claim
* A lot of airlines can route you through on earlier/better flights to your destination if you show up early at the airport and there are open seats. If you checked a bag, though, you’ll usually have to stay on the same flight(s) as that bag.
* There’s always the chance they will lose your bag. Worse yet, they’ll beat the stinkin’ crap out of it. I went through one travel season on a pretty nice, expensive bag (that I checked everywhere I went) before it was beaten to the point that it was practically ruined.
* If you ever get stranded somewhere (miss a connection) you’ll have your bag with you and you can take to a hotel for the night. If you checked it, you won’t see it until you arrive at your final destination (no fresh clothes, unless you happen to have some in a carry-on.)
I don’t want to sound overly passionate about it, but trust me, if you ever get stuck in any of the situations above you’ll be super glad you decided not to pack that 14th sweater and go with the carry-on. I’m a CHRONIC overpacker – I always have been – but it’s amazing how you can learn to cope when you start to have to travel a lot.
Cheers!
–b
30 June 2009, 6:29 pm