My Vacation Itinerary

Have you ever noticed how going on vacation is a lot of work?  Yeah.  It is.

Here is the plan.

Thursday

Pack.  That is not as simple as it sounds.  I travel with a lot of stuff.  I don’t take a lot of clothes; I don’t even own a lot of clothes!  It’s everything else.  I am on several medications for depression and my back pain, so those must come along.  I also take a lot of vitamins because I had gastric bypass surgery a few years ago, so those must all come along.  I frequently use protein shakes to make sure I get enough protein, so a container of protein powder and a shaker cup to mix them in will probably need to come along.  I plan to take my heating pad for my back.  I typically take some food with me when I travel, because I need to eat every few hours or else my blood sugar drops very low (reactive hypoglycemia) and I can’t eat things that are mostly carbs without much protein or my blood sugar drops very low and I don’t eat meat.  So I will probably take some protein bars and some soy milk and some almonds and maybe some other stuff to eat.  And I have to take my portable CD player and headphones and some CD’s to listen to because I have so much trouble sleeping at night, but I’ll be sharing a room with other people that presumably can sleep, so I need something I can do quietly without keeping them up.  I have to try to make all this fit into one suitcase.

I guess if I had my service dog already, he’d probably need his own suitcase.  I’d have to pack dog food, dog treats, dishes, a blanket for him to lie on and hopefully keep from shedding all over the hotel room, water to give him on the trip there and back, his leash, vest or harness, brush, plastic bags for picking up poop… I don’t even know what else.

Friday

Lug my suitcase out to my car, attempt to get it into the car without hurting my back too much.  Drive 2.5 hours to my sister’s house.  Bake a mess of banana nut muffins, per my nephew’s request, and figure out how to pack them so they will stay fresh and not get squished.

Saturday

Get up at the butt crack of dawn.  Lug my suitcase out to my sister’s car, attempt to get it into the car without hurting my back too much.  Drive 45 minutes to my mother’s house.  Move suitcase from my sister’s car to my mother’s car, hopefully without hurting my back too much.  Drive 11 hours or so to the Marine base.  Make multiple stops to eat/pee/let my seven-year-old nephew get out of the car and run around.  I’m tired just writing about it!

Sunday

Spend the day walking around the Marine base with my nephew.

Monday and Tuesday

One of these days we will spend at the beach.  At least, my sister tells me that is the plan.  I don’t tolerate the heat real well and I’m not sure I want to spend an entire day on the beach.  I may spend part of the day on the beach and part of it resting at the cool, quiet hotel.  Besides, I need down time.  Constant stimulation is stressful for me.  My little nephew is adorable and smart and fun… but he talks nonstop.  Sometimes I need quiet.  I don’t know what we will do on the day we don’t spend at the beach.

Wednesday

Get up at the butt crack of dawn.  Lug my suitcase out to the car, attempt to get it into the car without hurting my back too much.  Drive 11 hours or so, transfer my stuff to my sister’s car, drive another 45 minutes to her house.  Sleep.  Hopefully for a long time.

Thursday

Lug my suitcase out to my car, attempt to get it into the car without hurting my back too much.  Drive 2.5 hours home.  Collapse on the couch, probably for a long time.