CRAZED!

I  really do love to travel!
I even think I'm good at it.

I have been told by someone who observes me closely that I have a very high regard for myself, so whether I really am good at travel is up for discussion.  However, I am awful in the preparation for a trip.  I go overboard.  All the laundry has to be done.  The whole house has to be cleaned.  Sometimes I am even compelled to re-arrange books or furniture.  I shop for clothes I might need and then return most of them.  I agonize over what luggage to bring!  

Backpack?  Checked suitcase?  Carry-ons?

10x is probably my record for repacking my clothes for a single trip.  And this is France!  I cannot go with baggy mom-jeans or yoga pants as daywear.  I am impelled to be stylish, hope I look like I belong there, pray I fit in.  Years ago while waiting for a bus in Paris, I was asked in French for directions!  It was the highlight of the trip -- someone thought I was Parisian.  Or it could be that I have that look that says "ask me, I'll give information," but I'm going to hold on to the illusion that I looked like I belonged.   My observer has told me there is no way I won't look American, and I think she is probably right.  Still you know what they say about hope and eternal springs. . . 

This trip will include art workshops and outings to brocantes (French flea markets), antique shops, second hand shops, lots of places to buy wonderful vintage goodies.  Last time I ended up buying this blue suitcase there to hold all my extra treasures.  This trip I'm returning with that suitcase empty.  Hence what looks in the above photo as a suitcase inside another one is actually that!  The suitcases with all the scissors and sharp pointy things are getting checked, my clothes are carry-on

I leave tomorrow.  All my clothes are packed.  My art supplies are packed.  My toiletries all fit in a quart size container-- now that is a true feat, let me tell you!  Do I have everything I want to bring?  I'm not sure.  Will I look like a pack mule at the airport?  I sincerely hope not.  Once the plane takes off will I let go of all this craziness?  YES, YES, YES.  Perhaps that's why I keep traveling.  The before stuff makes me and all my loved one a bit nuts.  But the trip takes over and  I am able to go with the flow, at least that's what I tell myself.  I'm not sure we should ask the observer.  She'd probably say I'm way too intense wherever I am.

A bientot