This is a big day people. Are you excited? You should be, I certainly am. Today is my first day of pre-cruise preparation. I have about a week to get ready. I know that you are thinking that since I never leave my home these days I should have this in the bag, right? But I have discovered in recent weeks that when you work at a desk in your living room, you can often times end up working a 15 hour day without even realizing it. See the issue is that all I do many days once I have finished writing the travel blog is go through endless trip possibilities for other people. Let me tell you, it is a blast to do research on places I've never been before and probably will never get the chance to go and to hopefully get paid when I am done for doing this. The downside is that many days time gets away from me and I end up still sitting in front of my computer at 11 PM looking at just one more hotel in an exotic location. Such was the case yesterday and the day before.
So this week, I am going to try to stay focused on getting finished with other people's trip planning by 6 PM each day so that I can work on my own vacation. I always start out with an Excel spreadsheet that I created several trips ago and have worked at modifying on subsequent trips. It includes a To Do List of things that have to be completed before I can leave like arranging for pet sitting and cleaning house. Another section includes a list of everything I need to pack. It would totally suck to get half way to Galveston and then realize I had left my snorkel on the top shelf in my closet! Another section is a shopping list of things I must get before I can leave i.e. cat litter, travel size toothpaste, suntan lotion, etc. Then Jenny had the suggestion a while back to add a calendar for each day I will be gone with a blank next to the day so that I could write in the outfits I would plan on wearing so that I wouldn't forget anything. This works for her. But I tried and it just doesn't work for me. I am not capable of deciding today what I will wear a week from Tuesday. My brain just doesn't work that way. But it is a good idea if you are that organized.
I think I must be a spontaneous dresser. I know that I am a spontaneous eater, so it makes sense that I would also be a spontaneous dresser. Here's how I know that I am a spontaneous eater. When I make plans to go to a restaurant with friends, sometimes they will email you the website so that you can look at the menu ahead of time. I do look at the menu so that I can prepare my tastebuds for what is to come. But I NEVER decide what I will order until after I have been seated at the table. We'll be in the car on the way to the restaurant and my friend will say something like, "Did you look at the menu?" I will respond positively and then the next question is always, "What are you going to order?" Ummmmm....I don't know! How can I possibly decide that until I am actually seated in my chair with all the smells of the restaurant surrounding me and a waiter handing me a hard copy of the menu???? Are my friends insane??? How can they already know what they will want to eat prior to arriving at the restaurant?
So I do the same thing with packing. I think about what I will be doing each day that I am gone and I do get excited about it and then I pack accordingly but I never decide before I leave exactly what I will be wearing each day. For instance, I am pretty sure that I will pack 3 swimsuits, 4 pairs of shorts, 4 pairs of capri's, 2 pairs of dress pants, 6 tees and 6 other tops and at least one thing for a formal night. However, I'm just going to go right ahead and tell you that I might throw caution to the wind and wear a white pair of shorts with a pink top that I NEVER had intended to put with them. It's how I roll.... Next thing you know, I'll be getting tattoos or piercings in strange places on my body, 'cause I'm wild like that. :-) I'm reminded of a quote from Big Bang Theory in which Sheldon Cooper coined the phrase, "I'm a physicist, not a hippie." Apparently in this regard, I AM a hippie.
When I expressed my concern a year or so ago to Jenny that I wasn't capable of planning exactly what I was going to wear on a given day prior to that day, she said that sometimes after she makes her list and puts it all in writing, she will change things up on the trip. So, she might wear her Wednesday outfit on Monday, which means that she would then have to find something else to wear on Wednesday, so I guess she would take her Friday outfit out and put that on Wednesday, but then what do you wear on Friday???? Do you go back to your Monday outfit?!!?!??! If it wasn't good enough to wear on Monday, what makes you think you will want to be seen in it on Friday? Do you see how much pressure I would be putting myself under if I tried to plan today what I will wear a week from Tuesday? They would have to come and get me out of the mental hospital to take me to the ship!!!!
NO THANKS!
So I will remain a spontaneous dresser. I need the lists, but I just can't allow myself to get as detailed as others. But hey, if getting in the weeds works for you, then Yay you! All I know is that if I am in possession of a bottle of sunscreen, my Nook, at least one swimsuit and a pair of flip flops a week from Monday you may be able to hear me singing along with Jimmy Buffett from wherever you are.
Have a great Saturday! I'll talk to you tomorrow.
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