Sharing and other travel skills

Cat came with me to a meeting at my Adoption Agency the other night. It occured to us on the drive home that maybe all our travel adventures together over the past few years were actually preparation for the BIG TRIP. We realize that together we have gained a lot of potentially useful skills. For example, when english is not spoken we have the ability to act out in comedic skit any words or series of words. You should see my skit for "We are going horseback riding tomorrow" which I'm not sure has relevancy on the Russian expedition but clearly demonstates advanced acting ability. Cat and I have already endured entire days when we could not understand one word of what was spoken all around us nor could anyone understand us. I just have to break Cat of her habit of trying to find a french word to help, which only helps when the other person speaks french which wasn't the case in Venuezula nor will it be in Russia.

Cat and I share everything when we travel. We are excellent at sharing, we share beverages, meals, shoes, clothes, bags, ipods, cameras... nothing is off limit and it means that we can travel pretty light and cheap. On our last trip we spent less then $20 US a day on food and beverages for the both of us. Of course coffee was a quarter, rum was $5 a bottle and a giant plate of fresh seafood $10 so it wasn't all that hard. Still sharing a great asset in a travel partner.

We can handle stress... like the time we ran out of gas on a rented moped in the middle or nowhere or when the air conditioning wasn't working on the plane and it was over 100 degrees, or when the plane was delayed for 3 hours on the way home from Cuba due to a drunk guy so we arrived back in Toronto at 4am.

We have learned to stay calm and cool when carrying large sums of cash on us. Now to clarify, we thought that $1200 US was a lot of dough to have in our bag. We had to bring cash for the hotel and other expenses and we were quite nervous about having that amount of cash on us. In day to day life we rarely have more then $20 in our wallets but in Venuzeula it's cash only, no cards. Turns out that $1200 is like a change purse compared to the $8000 US I will need to travel with to Russia. No problem for experienced travellers like us.

Seeing adoption through a bifocal lens

I just read this article by one of my favourite authors and speakers Karen Salmansohn. I think her advice connects with those of us on the adoption journey. We are constantly living through the short and long term flux and at times Flux Sucks. Karen talks about the hard timeline of nine months for a pregnant mom but for all of us paper pregnant moms our pregnancy can last years. The points in our field of vision are constantly "in flux" but we are united in our long term vision. One day in the future we will bring home our little one forever.

Karen says

A long-term lens will help you keep your eye on the prize of your ultimate goals of happiness and fulfillment, while a short-term lens will help you keep your eyes on your feet so you don't get tripped up by fear.

What can I do to keep a rose coloured hue on my short term lens before the big news arrives? I will take Karen's advice and focus on what makes me happy. I've had a bit of an identity struggle accompany the change to single status but it's guided me take a look around my world and into myself and notice what lights up my solo life.

Here's some happy stuff that I can focus on .... opportunities to dance, move, and groove, play music that moves me, take pictures that capture joy, hug more, play with Jack, drink good coffee, connect, breathe, feed my body with what makes it feel good and try new recipes to share with friends, read inspirtational words and wear spring colours.

When it rains I'll put on my funky rainboots on my feet so fear won't stand a chance of tripping me.