I’ve been very focused at work the last few work days. I am taking some time off, and I wanted to make sure a couple of projects that I’d started last week got finished before I left. Sure, I’ll only be gone a week, but I can’t go live with a new process the literal day before I leave. That would be totally rude to my team, because if I forgot some step, then they will have to deal with the fallout without me there to let them know I just forgot to cross the t or something simple like that.
My team is capable of handling the normal day to day when I’m out. I mean, I take vacations every summer, so I know they’ve got it. I might be freaking out a bit because I’m nervous about taking a flight. It was almost this time last year exactly that I was going to be headed to a conference for work, and then swinging by my childhood hometown to visit family.
Covid, of course, changed all that. There was no conference, and I certainly wasn’t going to fly anywhere.
I don’t really like flying in general, because of the people. Give me an open wilderness over an enclosed metal tube any day. Most people are fine, I’m sure, but there are many who wear strong perfumes and that irritates me. Or they want to talk to me when I’ve got my headphones on in a clear signal of “introvert trying to pretend they are not stuck in a metal tube with strangers.” Or they are crying babies.
Actually, no, I’m okay with crying babies. They are irritating, but they can’t help it. Not like those bros who douse themselves in Ax body spray before getting into an enclosed metal tube! Though, to be fair, at least they showered? I once had to sit next to a guy who clearly had NOT showered for quite some time, and it was pretty unpleasant. I know that I stink after a backpacking trip, and I would never get on a commercial flight without some attempt at washing first.
In fact, that fits in with my plan to backpack Hawai’i someday – fly in, stay a night at a hostel, backpack a week, then another night at a hostel for showering before flying home. I’ve heard there are no mosquitos there, and I like that!
Usually, when I go on a trip, I have a plan. An itinerary. Goals for the day and events to attend. This time, I have no plan. Except for staying with my brother, that was planned. But other than that, and a dance recital on Friday night, I have no idea what I’ll be doing with myself for a whole week. It’s a little unnerving for me. After all, I did get the trail name Task Master for a reason – I am all about the plan!
It will be good for me to just go with the flow. I managed to avoid overthinking about what-ifs for the trip – most likely because I was so focused on wrapping up those few things at work. It’s a good thing my job keeps me from getting bored.