HOW “NOT” TO START AN INTERNATIONAL VACATION

By Sally Densmore

Sally and Al in Alba- Medford’s sister city

We hadn’t traveled internationally for over four years and never for this long (26 days), so I had planned meticulously for months, reading travel guides and books on packing, so I’d know what we should take. I found gadgets invented to make traveling easier. I bought a new set of luggage and a travel purse with all sorts of zippered compartments and pockets. I even made a list of what I put into each of those pockets, so I’d be able to put my hands on whatever I needed immediately.

What I hadn’t counted on was leaving that purse on the plane from Medford to Seattle and that purse not being found until we were on the plane from Seattle to Amsterdam. I had my passport, or we wouldn’t have been able to leave the country at all. But until we learned from Sea-Tac Lost and Found that it had been found intact, we were anxious. I had thoughtfully

Sally in Amsterdam, the day after the loss

packed all the items I would need on a 10-hour overnight flight: toothbrush and paste, cleanser, contact lens case and solution, make-up, and sleeping pills. As it was, neither of us slept more than an hour or so. The most important item, however, was my phone. My husband and I have learned to text often to reassure each other where we are and when we will return. That ability to stay in touch was lost during this trip. Also, I had made some of our tour reservations on the phone, so we missed a cancellation which caused some undue frustration one morning. I had no way to receive my email, so 1200 were waiting for me when we returned home. I became totally dependent on my husband for the time, weather, and use of the camera phone. And we both became quite obsessive about knowing who had “the” phone. If you want to detach from your phone, I suggest you do it in a more controlled environment at home.

As you might imagine, I was a total basket case about this whole thing at first. My husband spent a couple of days talking me off the ledge. After berating myself for my careless stupidity a hundred times, I bought a few replacements, finally “made friends with the situation” and learned that indeed I could do without a lot of “things”. Once I relaxed, the trip wasn’t totally ruined, and my husband and I actually grew closer. I finally got my bag when I returned.

But I still wouldn’t advise this as the ideal way to begin a vacation.

                                         All and Sally- The smile has returned