Too Much of a Good Thing?

In the last four years I have lived in four countries, moved three times, owned and sold three cars, and visited nineteen different countries on five continents. During all of these wanderings, I have learned a few skills that will serve me well during my life and picked up others that are useless outside of the gypsy lifestyle Hubby and I have chosen to lead.

Take jetlag for example. I have heard from several people that they truly struggled with jetlag upon arriving in Cairo whether from home leave or fresh arrivals like us. Hubby and I, on the other hand, have been moving from place to place long enough to have permanently damaged our internal clocks. When we arrived, we stayed up until nine or ten that evening and then got a solid night’s rest. Sure, we may have slept in an hour or so extra for a few days, but we were pretty much on Egypt time immediately. While I would love to find an internal clock repairman, I realize that jetlag would greatly interfere with my travel habit.

Speaking of our rather expensive and addictive habit, when we traveled to Scotland in February of 2004, we spent considerable time packing our suitcases and carryons. We reviewed our selections by laying them on the bed and packed at least a day in advance. Fast forward to August of 2008 when we went to the Anti-Vegetarian conference in South Africa. Having barely unpacked from our arrival in Cairo three days earlier, we spent a sum total of 15 minutes packing our bags, throwing stuffed animals into our carryons, and refilling our travel sized shampoo from Aveda. All of this, it should be noted, was done about 30 minutes before the taxi arrived to take us to the airport.

While the ability to pack for a week long trip in less time than it takes to make Kraft Dinner is a valuable skill, it is also one that Hubby and I have realized will serve us little good should we ever move back to the Real World.

Other skills we have picked up during our travels include the ability to throw things out that most people would think are valuable for sentimental reasons but really take up space when you have a limited shipment allowance. We have also learned to jam 12 months worth of shopping into 1 trip to Wal-Mart, 2 weeks of mall walking, and four overweight suitcases. Sadly, we have also learned to eat airline food, find comfort in airplane seats, and which airports have the best duty free shops with the widest selection of liquor.

No matter what numbers or dubious skills I have picked up since we first decided to move abroad, one thing has remained constant: the love I have for my husband. I may drive him crazy and tease him mercilessly (both in real live and on this blog), but the truth of the matter is that nothing I do and nowhere I may travel is as much fun if he isn’t there with me. We’re a team and while we don’t exactly have a perfect record, we do have a winning one. And I’m proud to call him my husband.

Happy fake anniversary, sweetie. I’d marry you thrice.