by Alice Rush
IT HAS been a long time since we have made an extended trip anywhere, so our upcoming travel to Holland is a really big deal for me. I need to manage all aspects of leaving before I’m close to relaxing about it. I’m working out my usual OCD cleaning of the house beforehand, planning for who will care for our cats, transportation to the airport, what we will do and need while we’re visiting, and all the little details in between. It’s making me a little crazy, and I know that is my fault because I need everything “just so” and most of the details planned, but that is what I do.
This past week we had the pet sitter out to the house to get the layout of where everything is and what is expected. Having a stranger to the house was stressful to me, but of course our non-socialized kitties certainly did not want to be introduced and scattered to their hiding places. I’ll have to provide her with pictures so that she can tell who is who, and now getting pictures printed is another task on my list.
PACKING also takes planning and I prefer as little trouble at security as possible, so I’m trying to carry as few liquids as I can, plus I’m trying to pack all in a carry-on bag. My shampoo and conditioner are already in bar form. I’ve purchased travel size versions of other hair product needs. I’ll pick up a facial bar because I currently use the liquid version of my face cleanser. I’ll need a travel container for body lotion because it is after all – lotion. I need to look into smaller tubes of toothpaste because I think the one that my husband and I share may be slightly too big.
Our trash day is Friday and we leave on a Sunday, so I need to plan where I can drop two days worth of trash. I’ll also need to set up an outdoor trash can for the pet sitter to deposit used cat litter. I’m trying to make that whole process as easy as possible for her. The automatic litter box is fantastic and she’ll just need to change dirty litter bags for clean ones.
I NEED to put a request in with the post office to hold the mail, and that cannot be done online out here in the hinter-lands, so I will make a special trip to our specific post office for that. I have requests in already with the neighbor and a friend I work with who drives by the house daily to keep an eye on things, and of course we have security cameras.
We need to drop one car off at the repair shop to leave while we are gone, and we’ll use the other for the four-hour drive to the airport. Once there, I will collapse in a heap of exhaustion and likely sleep on the plane. I always do.
This morning, contingency planning occurred to me, and that is a whole new project for me. What if flights are delayed? What if we have car trouble? Who will take care of the cats if something dramatic happens? All will be well. Of course it will! But I have to put plans in place just in case because I am just a bit of an obsessive/compulsive control freak. I make no apologies!
* Alice is a Maine realtor and a licensed helicopter and fixed wing pilot. She first met her Dutch husband in Maryland in 2005, and married him four years later.
