Sunday Night Drama

 I was a slug this week - visiting relatives in New York. I had a wonderful time seeing family! The trip back, though, was a bit of an ordeal.

On the other hand, I am trying to school myself to be more positive about experiences that aren't (seemingly) much to write home about.

It was exceedingly windy in Minneapolis, so they delayed our flight by close to an hour. Most of the flight was uneventful but as we neared the Cities, the pilot said he was being asked to circle the airport.

Sunday night is not my favorite night to be out circling, of course. Though the pilot promised we'd only be circling for 20 minutes, I couldn't help wanting to be OFF that plane. 

Twenty minutes later, we were allowed to land, and started a pretty bumpy ride down through the wind. Minneapolis has just refused to allow spring anywhere near it -- and instead, we had winter biting at us the whole way down. 

When we finally landed, I think everyone on the plane breathed a little better. We said goodbye to the pilot (who really deserved an award for his landing) and headed to baggage, which was crowded with several flights even though carousels all around us were empty.

On the other hand, a truly sweet gentleman grabbed my luggage for me. And my husband carried practically everything, because he's the next best thing to an angel. 

And yes--it's good to be home. It always is.

Still trying to be positive!

How'd I do?

Airplane photo: Sean MacEntee

Pack THIS

Packing for a trip east, I was certain my list would catch every single thing I wanted to bring. The list was a "Pack this!" invention that seemed to include absolutely everything anyone would need on a trip: medications, electronics, seasonal clothes, hair care items, etc.

Granted, I was packing late at night and I'm stupid late at night. But still, having a list like this should keep me from forgetting everything--especially if I woke up early the next morning. I had already sent shampoo, conditioner and gel to my son's house, so I was doing pretty well that way, at least.

It was only on takeoff I realized my Kindle was sitting at home on my coffee table. My medications were on the counter still as stones. Gum and decongestant I usually lose for ear pain when landing were also missing. Plus, I forgot a few gifts and now have to figure out how to get them to friends and family. So much for packing lists.

Luckily I was able to get an on-call doctor to send in my prescriptions when I landed, and pick them up just before Hurricane Henri barreled through New York and New England. Unluckily, the process wasn't as easy as I would have liked.

First, the doctor didn't seem to realize that a hurricane was coming at first, and said she'd send in the prescription "later." I tried to explain I needed the medications before the hurricane hit and she eventually agreed to send the prescriptions to a Long Island pharmacy in an hour--but that didn't happen. 

I called again and the doctor sounded tired and angry. I explained again that a storm was coming. She eventually sent in a prescription--this time for one instead of the two meds I needed. 

By the time I pleaded with her to send in the second prescription, she was in a terrible mood, but at least sent in the second prescription quickly so we could stop torturing each other. Meanwhile, it wasn't time to renew the prescriptions yet so I had to pay $50 apiece for them, which would have been $100 apiece if I hadn't paid $25 to join some sort of Walgreens club.

Forgetting the Kindle was less traumatic as I had a book to read on the way home. But how had the list tripped me up? Mostly by convincing me I could check things off while packing, instead of afterwards, to be sure I got everything. In future, nothing is getting checked until I see it go into said suitcase with my own eyeballs.

This whole situation made me realize it's been a while since I last traveled on a plane--a year and 8 months, to be exact. Before that I was going here or there at least a few times a year and knew my way around a suitcase. It's kind of sobering to think something I took completely for granted has become a big deal, and how easy it is to forget stuff that never would have gotten by me before.

Packing is traveling's most mundane task and at the same time it's the most crucial one. We are literally at the mercy of what we have with us if we don't want to have to go through stress like calling doctors and hunting for other stuff in stores when we'd rather be with loved ones. For someone who feels like she never has enough time to do anything, this is a cautionary tale.

Pack slowly. Pack methodically. Pack your medications FIRST because you could be flying toward a hurricane (I met up with TWO during the two weeks I was gone). 

Most of all--packing is boring. Stay awake.

Suitcases photo: oatsy40

No Dream If You Will It

My husband surprised me yesterday with a proposition--always a good thing, and one I had not expected. "Let's go to Prague," he said. 

"Really?" I looked at him wide eyed as it was the last thing I thought he'd suggest--especially in the midst of a pandemic. 

Yet Prague has been on my bucket list for a long, long time and every year that goes by without going makes me feel like I'm missing out even more.

"Next year," he says, "I think we should do it."

That seems fair to me because it at least feels like the pandemic will have subsided enough for foreign travel. This year we plan to see friends and family  in August and I feel that no matter what the hurdles might be at that point, I have to try everything possible to make THAT trip come happen.

I talked to a friend recently about traveling to see her family in March. She says the airport was tremendously crowded and she wore a mask, gloves, headshield, etc. She says she had a wonderful time and it was worth it, but the stress of traveling that way had to be hard.

I am counting on vaccines being more widespread and the world being just a little less crazy--just enough to get us all where we want to go without feeling like we're in the middle of a cattle stampede. 

Prague, next summer, seems like a dream that must come true and one I can't put off any longer. I've said for years that any country that elected a playwright as its head of state is one I have to see, as I've had a thing forever about Vaclav Havel. (You would too if you read him/saw his work). 

Can you imagine us electing a playwright in America? Where are those billboards that say "It could happen" or maybe we need a billboard that says "If you will it, it is no dream" like Theodore Herzl said? 

If COVID taught me anything, (or should be teaching me anything) it is to stop putting off dreams and stop taking life and specifically my life for granted. It's interesting that my guy, who usually loves staying home and is perfectly happy to do so, was the one to suggest this. Did he know part of me felt like I'd never see Prague? Or even how stuck I feel in a hundred thousand ways?

I'm betting he did, which is why he suggested this trip. Knowing I need to take him up on it isn't enough, so I'm writing this public post so you can hold me to it, too. Please do that.

You know the saying that says every story is about someone who goes on a journey? I think that's because staying put is what most of us are too inclined to do and because journeys always take a little more effort than we want to deal with, sometimes. Extra points to the man in my life for pointing that out.

I guess our journeys are always waiting for us, yes? What we have to do is make sure we go on them. We can start just by opening the door.

Prague view: Jiri Brozovsky

Prague street photo:  Philippe

Ohhh, oh: the Places I Want (NEED) to Go

With apologies to Dr. Seuss, who taught me travel was in my future -- but say the word "Go" to me now, and all I can think of is "Stop." I want to GO very badly, especially to New York, where I can see family. It's far enough that the trip would take several days in a car, and the thought of being on a plane with even 10 or more people is freaking me out. Hey, even the idea of going to the dentist, which I pretty much have to do this week, is freaking me out--and they're all wearing masks and shields.

The one (small) way I thought of to feel better is making a list of all the places I want to go and have always wanted to go. That way, I'll at least be able to peck at my destination bucket list when things get better. In order from 1 to 12, my list is below, divided into domestic travel and traveling abroad:

DOMESTIC WISH LIST

1. Long Island, New York: To start, the epicenter of my family is there right now, just like the virus-- but cases are decreasing and I have hope this could possibly happen sooner rather than later.

2. New York City: Again, want to see more friends and family, but am not sure when. :(

3. Lee, Massachusetts: three of my oldest friends and I planned to gather in Lee, where one lives, this summer. It may have to happen next summer, but I'm still holding out hope.

4. Kansas City, Kansas: a very important wedding happening between my son and his fiance, so I'm throwing an extra special plea out to God and the Universe to make it happen.

INTERNATIONAL WISH LIST

5. Prague, Czech Republic: Now I'm getting more exotic with my travel plans because hey, why not? I've wanted to see Prague forever, first, because I've heard it's among the most beautiful cities in the world, and two because any country that elected a playwright for its president is a country I want to see.

6. Gdansk, Poland: My very first play, which was a musical, focused on the Solidarity uprising in Gdansk in the 1980s. The shipyard where it happened turned into a discoteque (*SAD*) by now, but the strike and movement that happened there has been central to my life in countless ways, most notably in the refusal to lie down in the face of whatever craziness may be coming at you. I'd love to see Gdansk (and likely want to look in on Warsaw as well) - whenever possible.

7. Berlin: I've wanted to go since 1989 and before, when David Bowie insisted we'd take Manhattan first and then Berlin. I'm not terribly keen on the rest of Germany but the city's music, history (dark as it was) and theater are too intertwined with my own history to ignore.

8. Shannon, Ireland - and the whole country too. I visited Dublin with my husband a few years ago and fell completely in love with Ireland. My son and I agree we want to visit every country that starts with an I but this tops the list for me and always will. As soon as I set foot on the ground I felt home, which is weird, as I'm not Irish. But I'd happily live there if I could ever figure it out.

9. Florence, Milan, Rome, Rimini and Tuscany in Italy: my son was able to study in Rimini during college and his pictures were more than enough to entice me to want to see the entire country. I know this isn't a good time, but if I ever do go I'm starting in Milan, where I had family once upon a time, and taking the train to all the other places listed here. My friend Susan, who traveled wherever she could when she had the opportunity, traveled Italy by train and said it was the best money she'd ever spent.

10. Greece: I'm not sure where I should land and go yet, but I know it will be fun to research it.

11. Jerusalem, Israel: I have friends there and some family in Haifa and having been once, I feel I only tipped the proverbial iceberg, so to speak, and want/need to return to spend time with the people and places I only started to get to know.

12. Latvia and the Ukraine: My family fled Russia in the late nineteenth century, and one of my favorite sayings about the country was something I read in a magazine that said, "Russia! What can you do but leave it?" Of course now, Latvia is its own country and I want very much to visit Riga to find my father's side of the family. I also want to find Medzhibozh in the Ukraine, because that's where my mother's family came from. I don't know how such a trip would work but I realized I needed one more stop on my travel list, or it wouldn't be complete.

As wish lists go, I hope most of it will happen! Maybe with enough wishing, it will.

On the Road: Traveling Wishes

My friend Mindy once told me she tried to be a traveler as opposed to a tourist when she left home for any period of time, and I always thought that was wise. Of course, you don't have to travel far to learn something about people, which is the point, I think, of going anywhere.

In Mark Helprin's book A Winter's Tale a young woman gets a job at the New York Times and is told to walk around the city all day, find interesting people and talk to them. I can't think of a better job for a writer-- or anyone else, for that matter.
And I don't think I'm the only one who feels that way.

In The Beat on Ruby's Street, Ruby is fascinated with Jack Kerouac and his book On the Road because I think she understands the most important thing about travel is getting inside the heads of people who live completely different lives. Ironically, Ruby has hardly been anywhere beyond her home turf of Greenwich Village.

In book two, I'm setting things up so Ruby will have to travel nearly as much as Kerouac did. I guess I need to travel vicariously through her, but I also want her to share what she learns about people outside of her Beat-Generation community.

My own traveling life hasn't been nearly as extensive as I'd like, but I promised myself to try and see all the places (or at least half) that interest me in the next decade. My son and I both want to see every country that starts with the letter "I.".

Besides travel in the U. S., Canada and Mexico, I visited Paris, Amsterdam and a little Swiss village on a college trip and have been to Ireland and Israel since then, but that isn't nearly enough to make me the traveler I want to be. I just think travel teaches us (and our kids) so much more about the world than we could ever learn in school.

My son has been to Italy and Israel though college trips: a summer studying opera in Italy and two school semesters in Jerusalem. When he talks to me about meeting Palestinians and Israelis, traveling to border areas or singing for Italian audiences, I can see how his experiences changed and and are still changing him. I tell him my biggest travel wish is to get to Prague, because any country that elected a playwright for its president is a country I need to see.

If there is a way for your son or daughter to travel, and/or for you to go with them, I hope you will. If you can do it while they're in elementary school, all the better. And it doesn't have to be some exotic destination either--even walking around your city talking to people you find interesting could be a great experience. Because isn't the best travel about how far our minds can take us, wherever we go?

Ideas on traveling with kids can be found here:

Travel with Kids: Why You Should Do It and Do It Now

15 Places Your Kid should See Before 15