Ciao

Postings here will be spotty for the next week or so.  I will be traveling.  Who knows, maybe I'll have some stories to tell and some pictures to show.  The next couple days will be hectic, too.  Ili has already gone, and I am left to get ready on my own.  I've travelled all over the world alone, but suddenly it seems more difficult to get prepared.  Best not to worry about it so much, I think.  Socks, underwear, t'shirts, a sweater and a jacket, hiking shoes, a scarf, a hat, and some jeans.  The electronics make it more difficult.  I will take one camera, I've decided, some lenses, and a laptop.  What am I forgetting?

Things used to be so much easier.  I used to book my airline tickets the week of my trip, show up at the gate a few minutes before departure, find a place to stay when I got wherever I was going.  Now you must book your tickets far in advance to get a good price, secure a room wherever you are going, and arrive at the airport two hours in advance so you can travel the distance between the counter and the gate.

It is not just nostalgia to say that life has gotten more stressful.  Psychologists have studied how many more decisions a person must make in a day compared to a few decades ago.  There are more signs to read, more directions to follow, more warnings to heed.

But soon I'll be able to chill.  I'll keep you posted when I can.  Until then, ciao.