Preparing for travel

I hate going on vacation. In my opinion, it’s almost more trouble than it’s worth. Almost.

For me, the hardest time is right before and right after I leave. In addition to having to make the lists, do the laundry, do the packing, there is all of the work stuff that needs doing.

It starts with prepping everything so that when you’re out, if something goes wrong, there is a pro-cess. Set your e-mail to ping your co-workers if they forget that you’re out and try to e-mail you. Looking forward to the time frame that you’ll be out, and getting everything set up to move seamlessly when you get back.

I can’t even begin to start thinking about when I get back- the last time I was out for 4 days over the winter holiday I spent three hours sifting through my work e-mail. Three hours. During a quiet time of year. It’s enough to give a woman hives, I tell you.

But. All work and no play make Jasmin 2008 antsy and burned out. So, part of this week’s planning includes:

• Filling out the pre-boarding paperwork for the boat
• Pre-boarding for the flight
• Packing my bags to stay within the weight guidelines, and still leave a little space for a few, circumspect, Jasmin 2008 approved purchases.
• Making phone calls to all dropping-off volunteers to remind them that we need to be at the airport early.

Are we there yet?