Tripling Up
My travel calendar for the next month holds a trio of repeats
This week has been weird as I move into travel advisor life. Weird, but good. I’ve spent a lot of time sitting on the couch in my pajamas, planning other people’s trips, feeling like I’m goofing off when really I’m doing my job. That’s the goal, right? If so, I’m happy to have reached it because it’s a lot of fun.
I’ve done some deep dives learning about Portland and the Oregon coast, and I’m discovering the ins and outs of going to Dublin for a week. Also, SO many travel suppliers with different types of booking protocols to learn. But even that’s interesting to me. I’m really hoping I can make this take off because I enjoy it a lot.
And of course, it’s giving me the travel bug in a big way.
Yesterday I booked another trip to Monterey for January. This time it’s partially work—I’m taking CJ to visit the campus of CSU-MB. They have a graduate program in Scientific Illustration that CJ’s interested in attending. They’re almost halfway through their junior year of college, so it’s a little early, but this family is notoriously slow when it comes to big decisions.
Plus, I have a free Southwest companion pass I need to use before March, and there was a huge sale, so we’re both flying to Oakland and back for less than $300 total, and the trip’s a week before the Customer of Size policy changes. Wins all around!
CJ hasn’t flown since before I had a smartphone, so this should be interesting. They didn’t get the travel genes, which their father also lacks. So it’s going to be a short trip, arriving Sunday and going home on Wednesday. With our one non-travel free day, I hope they’re game for either 17-Mile Drive or whale-watching.
Did I mention that I haven’t told CJ about the trip? Yeah … We discussed it in theory over Thanksgiving break. But the sale popped up, and I had to act fast. They’re in the end-of-the-semester crunch, and I didn’t want to add to the stress. They can wait until they’re on winter break next week to find out.
Speaking of the end of the semester, last week I made the drive to Kansas City to fetch CJ for Thanksgiving break. Their dad returned them less than a week ago. And yet tomorrow, we’re going back for two art shows. Next week, another return for another art show, and to bring CJ home for winter break.
Last week I’d hoped to have some time to do “KC stuff” (whatever that is), but that was just a run into The Roasterie for a few bags of their holiday coffee. Tomorrow, we’re at least doing a decent sit-down dinner after the art shows. I researched restaurant options and think I’ve found a good Indian place. Again, we’re slow to make big decisions, so I took matters into my own hands.
For next week’s show and return home, my mom is joining us for her birthday. I’m dreaming of Christmas lights and another good meal, which I’ll start researching as soon as tomorrow’s trip is over.
Oh, except I’ll be in Chicago this Monday through Wednesday!
Thanks to the generosity of a stranger, I’ll be up front for Andrew Bird’s Gezelligheid when it opens on Monday night. Tuesday night, I’ll be at the Golden Smog show. In between, I’m hoping to have the energy and wherewithal—the vertigo has been really bad this week—to see some friends and do some things.
I love Chicago in December when the city’s scraping ICE.
And so I keep on moving, shaking off the dizziness to celebrate my kid, music, some beautiful cities, and the ability to push toward perpetual motion. I’ll report back when I recover.
Regarding the article, 'feeling like I’m goofing off' is a briliant observation on modern work.