Get Down the Suitcases: Yahoo, We Fly in Seven Days!

We are in countdown mode for our trip to Spain and Portugal. My husband has posted the picture above on my office door, changing the number daily, as if I needed reminding! I am ready to start packing because I begin by overpacking. Then, each night until we place the bags next to the door, I take out clothes one to two pieces at a time until I have exactly the clothes I am taking. I make lists of toiletries, chargers, other electronics, medicines, what I wear for each occasion, and documents needed.

The fun begins tonight! I am the secretary in charge of logistics. I make copies of our passports and driver’s licenses, just to be on the safe side. I reserve the Uber for the airport. I go online and stop the mail for the days we will be gone. I print out all Airbnb reservations and our itineraries. The printer is primed, cartridges bought, and printer paper replenished.

The anticipation over the next week will keep a smile on my face. I am still dealing with a health issue, but my cardiologist told me that I am not in imminent danger of dying, but admittedly the doctors are not sure what is happening. But, I am going in Jesus’s name.

I withdrew from two college courses that required me to attend class virtually late in the evenings on Tuesday and Thursday while we were away. I decided that as much as I want to complete the degree this semester, I need this vacation time for healing and recovery. Trying to remember to complete coursework and attend classes would have meant three weeks of staying up past 11:00 PM in Bilbao, Spain, and past 10:00 PM in Porto, after days of sightseeing, being with grandchildren and kids, and resting by the beach. I originally thought that would be cool, but the added stress was too much. So, I listened to my doctor and husband! I will complete the one class I had to keep when I return.

Seven days and we will be fly-y-y-ing! We are off to fulfill a travel dream born in 1998 to visit Bilbao, Spain. Our grandchildren visited Bilbao and France earlier this year and assured me I would love it! Twenty-six years has not diminished my desire to see the Guggenheim Museum and museums in San Sebastian and the Basque country! Dreams don’t die easily, and they should not do so! Here’s to the next seven days of frenzy and joyous anticipation! Then, eighteen days of wonder and learning. Let the paella begin!