How Are You Feeling?

A question we heard in the weeks leading up to our departure was “how are you feeling about your trip?” The short answer, excited and nervous. Not nervous like I don’t know how we are going to do this, but more nervous about what we are forgetting. Did I forget to change the thermostat schedule? Did I remember to pack my computer plug? Are the cars safe? Have I given enough instruction for people to check in on our house? What am I forgetting? I did as much research as I could. Ironically, on most vacations I spend all of my research time trying to figure out what to do when we are there and no time worrying about the homefront. This trip though, I spent all of my planning time on the things we were leaving behind and virtually no time looking into what to do when we get there. I suppose there will be time for that in the days and weeks ahead. I have to admit that this was a complete group effort as El has been amazing with her pre-trip research as well. Without much overlap, she spent her time mostly concerned about the particulars of being in Italy. She was researching internet and phone plan options, corresponding with the landlord, and possibly most importantly, making sure we are Covid compliant upon arrival. We are flying into Rome, so checking the train schedules between Rome and Bari was on her plate too. Luckily, she seemed to be as diligent in her research as I was with mine. We will be landing in Rome in about 1 hour and we still have a long day ahead of us. We are both exhausted from the overnight flight that will shortly transition to a rest-of-the-day train trip. I believe our arrival in Bari will be somewhere about 8pm. Hopefully we can get some sleep on the train, but I am not counting on much more than a doze.