Getting Ready

Our big annual vacation looms large on the horizon and I'm getting psyched! The itinerary goes something like this: I'm headed to Europe for 6 weeks starting at the end of May. The plan is to climb around Rodellar (a few hours north of Barcelona) for a few weeks, then meet Theresa in Paris. We'll do the tourist thing in Paris for a few days, seeing the sights and eating and drinking the best (that we can afford!) that Paris has to offer. After we've spent all of our money on French food, we're headed to Mallorca for a week of hanging on the beach with a little climbing thrown in for good measure. After that, Theresa is headed home and I'll return to northern Spain to climb for 2 more weeks.


For me, going on longish trips is always bittersweet. I say longish because it's all a matter of perspective. As Americans, most of us view a 6 week trip as a huge vacation. I've been asked more than once, "why do you want to go for so long?". On the flip side, 6 weeks to Europeans is not such a big deal as they often go for much longer. Several years ago I met a Japanese couple climbing in Mexico. I asked how long there were traveling and their answer was "not too long, only 2 years"! So like a lot of life, it's all a question of scale and perspective.

Anyway, on to the bittersweet part. I love to travel and climb at new places and my job often affords me the luxury to do so for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, Theresa has a normal "real" job which prevents her from taking large chunks of time off. We've dealt with this several times by scheduling her trips in the middle of mine. That way we're only apart for 2 weeks or so at any given time. While this isn't ideal, it makes it bearable, plus we're able to keep in touch via email. This year we're going to try Skype which I just installed on our computers to stay in touch via free VOIP phone conversations. Hopefully it will be a successful experiment.

But wait, my babies can't talk over the phone! For those who don't know, my babies are the two big labs in the picture above, Bourbon and Ripley. The time away from them is tough and sometimes I succomb to temptation and pet other dogs (but don't tell them that). One of the highlights of coming home from long trips is opening the door and getting to see them run across the room at me. I look forward to it already.