In my many years of traveling I have learned to practice what I preach. That holds true this year as I have put off packing until the last minute.
Summer vacation just began and as I always do, I take a couple of days to rest before I hit the ground running preparing myself for travel or cleaning my very dirty house, The week began with me emptying boxes of teaching materials that have managed to pile up in my dining room. In the back of my mind I was confident in knowing that with all the traveling I have done and as experienced as I am, I know what I am doing and don't need to worry about packing until Thursday/Friday. I've got this!
It's Thursday evening and I am satisfied in the work I have accomplished in cleaning out my dining room. So, I began gathering up my travel items and putting them in a central location. I started making my list of all the items I need to get from the Dollar Tree and made a note of meds I need to hit up HEB for. I'm not overwhelmed, remember "I've got this". I make sure my student folders are ready and I have my stack of papers that I need to go make copies of. At this time it's pretty late in the evening and Friday is my day to do my Dollar Tree shopping, make copies and pre-finalize my packing. That just means have everything I need to take laying out so I can begin the process of actually packing and organizing everything to fit my luggage.
That's when it hits me. MY CAMERA! Where is my camera? I haven't seen it and remember it being on the ottoman with my suitcase, But my living room is clean and no camera was spotted. I searched my "closet" (spare bedroom is my closet) and no camera. In my mind I am thinking, ok, if it's not here then it is in my classroom. I must have left it in my cabinet. Now my heart begins to race. Will the school be open tomorrow? Summer school has begun but are they only going Monday - Thursday? It's too late to call or text people to find out! I'm slowly loosing control. The only thing to do is wake up early Friday and text the secretary. Needless to say, I was restless all night.
8 am on the dot I am texting Ellis and luck is on my side. The school is open. My control is hanging by a thread but I have hope. Only that hope is crushed as I searched my room and could not locate my camera.
That just means that the camera is at my house. It has to be. But where in the world is it? I run my errands and make it home. After mentioning my situation to my husband he remembers seeing it and putting it away knowing that I would need it soon, but he can't remember where he put it. We opened every drawer, picked up all furniture, looked in all storage boxes, tore through my "closet" and still no camera. Hope is lost. So, I go back to the beginning. I began reopening every drawer. I get to my DVD storage dresser and on the 6th drawer I noticed something odd. The top DVD is not aligned with the others. I pick it up and notice a gap behind the DVD's and reach back behind and find my camera in its case!
At this point I have spent a total of 6 hours searching for my camera when I could have been doing other things.
Here is what I have learned. Just because I travel every year and I know what I am doing, doesn't mean "I've got this". Start packing early, check, recheck, and triple check my list and allow time for foreseen situations. Someone once told me "Chance favors the prepared". Boy did that ever hit home this week.
Summer vacation just began and as I always do, I take a couple of days to rest before I hit the ground running preparing myself for travel or cleaning my very dirty house, The week began with me emptying boxes of teaching materials that have managed to pile up in my dining room. In the back of my mind I was confident in knowing that with all the traveling I have done and as experienced as I am, I know what I am doing and don't need to worry about packing until Thursday/Friday. I've got this!
It's Thursday evening and I am satisfied in the work I have accomplished in cleaning out my dining room. So, I began gathering up my travel items and putting them in a central location. I started making my list of all the items I need to get from the Dollar Tree and made a note of meds I need to hit up HEB for. I'm not overwhelmed, remember "I've got this". I make sure my student folders are ready and I have my stack of papers that I need to go make copies of. At this time it's pretty late in the evening and Friday is my day to do my Dollar Tree shopping, make copies and pre-finalize my packing. That just means have everything I need to take laying out so I can begin the process of actually packing and organizing everything to fit my luggage.
That's when it hits me. MY CAMERA! Where is my camera? I haven't seen it and remember it being on the ottoman with my suitcase, But my living room is clean and no camera was spotted. I searched my "closet" (spare bedroom is my closet) and no camera. In my mind I am thinking, ok, if it's not here then it is in my classroom. I must have left it in my cabinet. Now my heart begins to race. Will the school be open tomorrow? Summer school has begun but are they only going Monday - Thursday? It's too late to call or text people to find out! I'm slowly loosing control. The only thing to do is wake up early Friday and text the secretary. Needless to say, I was restless all night.
8 am on the dot I am texting Ellis and luck is on my side. The school is open. My control is hanging by a thread but I have hope. Only that hope is crushed as I searched my room and could not locate my camera.
That just means that the camera is at my house. It has to be. But where in the world is it? I run my errands and make it home. After mentioning my situation to my husband he remembers seeing it and putting it away knowing that I would need it soon, but he can't remember where he put it. We opened every drawer, picked up all furniture, looked in all storage boxes, tore through my "closet" and still no camera. Hope is lost. So, I go back to the beginning. I began reopening every drawer. I get to my DVD storage dresser and on the 6th drawer I noticed something odd. The top DVD is not aligned with the others. I pick it up and notice a gap behind the DVD's and reach back behind and find my camera in its case!
At this point I have spent a total of 6 hours searching for my camera when I could have been doing other things.
Here is what I have learned. Just because I travel every year and I know what I am doing, doesn't mean "I've got this". Start packing early, check, recheck, and triple check my list and allow time for foreseen situations. Someone once told me "Chance favors the prepared". Boy did that ever hit home this week.
Less than 48 hours away from Costa Rica!
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