Far from the Home I Love

As of today, I have officially been away from home longer than I even have in my life.  This is significant because at my core, I am a homebody.  Generally speaking, by the end of a vacation, I am running for my front door.  I knew going into this trip that it would have to be a time of growth for me or I would go nuts.  Right now, I am feeling a bit unsure where I stand.  Overall, I am glad that we still have another month to play. 

Then again, I miss my friends and family.  I have gained at least 5 pounds and feel icky.  I have no routine because our two choices are either being on the road where we feel rushed or being here where you have to drive 45 minutes to get to a place you can safely take a long walk.  This last week and a half on the road was hard for me.  Honestly, I stopped having fun a few days in so we spent a lot of time thinking about what we like and dont like about travel so that the last month goes better.  

Here is what I discovered about myself.  First, for any trip of more than a week or so, I think its important for me to have a home base where I can come and regroup in between jaunts without feeling any of the stress of travel.  That is why I LOVE house swaps (well one of many reasons) and I feel better already to be back at Rene's.  Another thing I need is to always stay in any given place at least a couple nights.  On this road trip, I realized we were spending a few hours a day either packing or unpacking and that was no fun.  I have a limited capacity for looking at cathedrals. I mean this literally, but also metaphorically in that I dont like going to a lot of places, seeing something to check off a box and then moving onto the next thing.  It all starts to blend together.  I hate to feel rushed.  I especially dont like rushing to leave the house in the morning.  In my opinion, that is not something that people who are on vacation should do.

So, how to maximize enjoyment for the rest of our trip?  Here is what I am thinking...

1. Stay everywhere at least 3 nights and accept this means saving more cities for next time
2. Plan no more than one major or two minor things each day
3. Focus on doing fun activities rather than seeing sites
4. Minimize eating out, learn how to cook the regional foods and supplement with healthy favorites from home
5. Get exercise daily, even if that means rocking out to some tunes at home
6. Try to set up more Skype dates so I feel connected to home

On that note, if you are reading this and have some time to skype this week, let me know.  My night is your morning and if you stay up late, my morning is right before your bedtime.

And now, with no further ado...

Sexy Lady