As I started writing about this latest trip to Spain I tried a few clever ideas, but they didn’t stick. Instead, I have this.
My last trip out here was two and a half years ago. Two and a half years isn’t that long. It’s not enough time to establish an asparagus patch, potty train many babies or get a BA degree. And when you’re in your 60’s, it’s the blink of an eye.
I went to Spain four years in a row. Each year my focus was on packing my personal and work laptops and making sure my bike rides were organized and ready to go. This time, after a two and a half year hiatus, my focus is on which masks to take, how many COVID self-tests to pack, how best to squeeze my Paxlovid into my suitcase and where to carry my vaccine card. Three out of those four things hadn’t even been invented when I last travelled here.
If I test positive for COVID one day before my flight back, I won’t be able to come home. I only have one laptop because I’ve given up almost all of my work. Martha is retiring in eight weeks. I am working practically full time as the board chair of a non-profit. We’re down one dog and up a different dog. I’m on Medicare and eyeing Social Security. I have to change planes in Germany, which is a two-hour flight from an active war zone.
So yeah, it’s only been two and a half years since my last trip, but damn. Who could possibly have predicted anything remotely like this?
Thanks for listening. Now that I’ve got that out of my system, on with the trip.
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