Monday, January 1, 2024

New Year, nearly there!

The holidays did well to kill the time for me as I await safari.  Tasks are getting ticked off the list as I get closer to leaving:  I got my anti-malarial without having to make an appointment since I was just at the travel clinic under a year ago!  Lined up airport parking and got my visa (three day turnaround, not bad!).  And this weekend I’ve started packing.  Woot!

No near-departure time would be normal without a crisis or two to worry about.  Miss Maisie had a health crisis as it turns out she’s losing weight unintentionally.  Fear not, it’s “just” IBD, and treatable, but we found that out only after consulting with a specialist.  And Mom had a turn in the ER over the weekend which turned out ok, I think.  I worry as a full time job so it’ll be hard for me to turn that off and get out of dodge so to speak.  But I’m in the single-digits now and really just need to get on that plane.

My April trip took a bit of a turn when I couldn’t find flights home that weren’t over 20 hours and three stops.  I’m already barking at the work limit of 10 business days off, I can’t take two to get home.  So I scrapped the tour and decided to do a week in Slovenia on my own.  I’ve been walking/running a lot with iFit on my treadmill and see that there’s so much more to Slovenia than the tour was going to cover.  I can leave Croatia for another time.  And as a bonus, I’m stopping in London on the way home for 2 nights to see my favorite band Elbow…finally!  They announced their tour after I’d booked the Adriatic tour and I couldn’t finagle it, but now I can.  All’s well in the end.  So I’ve booked all the flights and hotels for that and will have it to look forward to when I get back from Kenya.

2023 was a tough year with work and other stresses.  I’m mentally spent and really tired.  I’m long overdue for a break.  I don’t write this for attention or sympathy, but only to remind myself when I get back how rough I felt before I left home.  I know that this safari is a cure for all that ails me.  It always has been.  6 more days of work.  Nearly there….


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