Making a list and checking it twice. Leaving on a road trip at mid-week. Looked forward to it immensely as I juggled the travel options, let my wife select among them, and then made the hotel reservations just over a month ago. No air travel, no car rental. Just time on the highways with some diversions off the highways to places I've not visited before. And wife at my side. The challenge of exploration peaked quickly, then waned. Doubts emerged. Right places? Enough time at each designated stop. Best use of limited destination time? I'm comfortable with what I have arranged. Like most projects, the start comes with anticipation, the end with eagerness, but the middle drags. I am emerging from that middle.
At the Brew HaHa, where I've not been for Sunday morning coffee in a very long time, I created a pre-travel checklist. It fills most of a loose-leaf column. Getting car optimal. Not forgetting stuff. Doing stuff that needs doing at home that cannot wait a week once overlooked. Having devices charged with capacity to do additional charging at my destinations. Having some recreation at hand, whether an ebook or audio book from the library or sketching pencils. Having destinations pre-set on Waze. Having enough cash.
Realistically, anything except my medicines and electronics that I forget to pack, or find that I really need, can be purchased. Every town has a Walmart, a chain pharmacy, and regional convenience stores with gas stations. If I neglect to wash my car, it wasn't cleaned before. My exercise program scores close to 100% without special prompting, so the remaining stretch and treadmill sessions really do not need to have their own places on my checklist.
It is still vacation, one that I am looking forward to more than my spring getaway closer to home. I feel more in need of a scenery change now. Anxiety free is important. So I devote the time it takes to drink a large mug of coffee to having this reliable pre-travel to-do list. No items on it will travel with me.
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