It has been six years since our last international trip together to Scotland. Rick has made many an international trip for work, but multiple attempts for the two of us to travel together for pleasure were sidelined by life events and the pandemic. So after a few false starts, I think this might actually happen.
We are doing something new this time around and are not going to Scotland. Instead we plan to visit the southern half of Ireland, and then Barcelona, Spain, and lastly, Porto, Portugal. In addition to traveling for pleasure we are also scoping out possible retirement locations. Hard to believe but retirement is indeed on the horizon for both of us. For a variety of reasons that I won't get into here (but if you know us at all you'll have an inkling as to why), we are considering retiring abroad. Scotland is a solid possibility, likely our first choice, but we thought we should look around, just a little bit more, to be sure. Based on some preliminary research, Ireland and the northern coast of Portugal rose to the top of the list. Barcelona would be too warm - we are going there just because it seems like a cool place. 😎
And so here we are a week before departure and I'm in full on planning mode, trying to pretend that I have control over the multitude of variables that I have no control over. Trying to stay up-to-date on the ever-changing Covid requirements for entry into different countries, making sure I have all my boosters and vaccines, assessing and supplementing my travel gear ranging from luggage, to clothes, to electronics, adjusting to the need for summer clothing during a fall trip (thanks to climate change 😕), figuring out how to get everything into a carry-on to avoid the baggage handling blackhole that is Heathrow Airport since its return to normal, post-pandemic travel, wrapping up work to the extent possible so I don't overload my colleagues during my absence, cleaning up my computer and phone to ensure there is enough memory for photos, researching, downloading and organizing e-books and podcasts to keep me entertained on the trip over the pond (and back) without the weight of "real" books, putting a hold on mail, ensuring the plants are watered (thank goodness we don't have a pet animal), and making dining and entertainment reservations as needed but also ensuring we have enough free time to allow for life to happen as it inevitably does. I'm exhausted. I think I need a vacation. How do people do this with kids???
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