Booking the Damn Trip!

I don't love Michigan. I mean, yes she has been good to me in terms of life in general, but basically 3/4 of the year, I find myself longing to be in Florida and anyone who knows me, knows I have been basically obsessed with this for some time. 

So I am going to do something that I have not done in 35 years of living. I am going to book a trip to Florida...with my mother. This could be a nice time for us to get to know each other, without distraction and build on our relationship. (or I will end up in an orange jump suit having committed a felony)...Either way it is bound to make for interesting stories. I have never taken a trip or done anything with just myself and my mother. Being one of 7 children and having 4 children of my own, you don't really get the opportunity. 

Of course it's Florida. My heart has been there since I first went and I do all I can do to go back and regularly. It was 2 years ago, almost to the date that I am considering going now that I was there last. Since the prospect of going back presented itself earlier this week, I have been consumed with making arrangements. Don't get me wrong I don't plan on doing much. I am driving down, not taking an airplane in the middle of a covid-crazy world (besides, I love making the drive...all but Ohio, that is). I have several beach days planned and trying to stretch out my time there to maximize things to the best of my ability. 

So far, I've gotten it up to 10 days. This is the time of year that I have taken most of my trips. It was February that I went to Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and it was early April that I've gone to Florida in the past. It is this time of year that I hurt down to my soul with each snowflake that falls. I cannot stand the gray, I cannot stand the cold, I cannot stand the lack of ocean, palm trees, or tropical weather. It is hard. And here I find myself waiting. Waiting for the days to pass until I can take my trip. Waiting for semesters to pass so I can achieve my career. Waiting for the years to pass so I can move with my children without much dispute from their fathers, learning how to co-parent across state lines. 

Life presents challenges and the waiting is the hardest part so the way I have learned how to cope with that is my intermittent trips. 10 days in Florida is like living there 2.73% of the year. That's better than 1% or 0, so I will gladly take it and embrace it. 

There is so much on my to-do list. Trust me, it is all outdoors, socially distanced, and completely covid safe. I don't even like people all that much anyway. So here I am, counting down the days. The waiting, truly, is the hardest part.