Ready to Travel Lightly

My new travel journal and camera are
all ready for the trip. I will miss my
phone and laptop...and Hubby and
the boys and Ma, too, of course.

In less than a week, my girlfriend and I will be in Quito, Ecuador. We have plans to visit her family and friends, speak at a school, and play tourist in my friend's hometown. I'm looking forward to learning about another country and culture. I'm hoping to strengthen my ability to communicate in Spanish. But the thing I am looking forward to the most is being detached from mainstream technology for over a week.

My cellphone and laptop are staying at home. No email. No texts. No phone calls. No instant messages. Nothing but a journal, pen, and digital camera.

I plan to take lots of pictures and lots of notes. This will be my third journey out of the USA if you count the two trips I took to Canada. It will be my first adventure in another hemisphere. The wanderlust gene in me is doing cartwheels. The creative writer gene in me is looking forward to filling its coffers with tons of column and blog fodder. The photographer gene in me is still trying to figure out all the bells and whistles on the new camera.

Thankfully, those three genes are distracting the mommy gene that will obsess over whether of not everyone is okay back home. The new people, foods, and sights will keep the mommy gene at bay most of the time. But when we go shopping, that's the gene that will compulsively purchase a gift for each of my children, Hubby, and Ma. The mommy gene never lets me return home empty handed.

Micki Bare, mother of three, wife, daughter & writer is the author of Thurston T. Turtle children's books. 
Email: mickibare (at) gmail.com

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Micki Bare's Weekly Column (Arkansas News Bureau)