Vacation Prep

I will soon be on vacation – I cannot wait. I’ve been so busy with things for the past 2 months and it’s been a very long time since I’ve been away for a true vacation for any length of time.

Did I mention that I cannot wait?

Of course I’ve been preparing. I don’t have a designated travel Filo – I don’t (yet) have a need for one. But I have been making lists. We rent a house at a lake for the week. Many things are already there for us, but some things we must remember to bring with us. My lists include items to pack, food to bring and/or buy, books to borrow from the library. In all honesty, I haven’t been keeping up with these lists like I have in the past, though there’s plenty of information on each (my book list is longer than anything). Maybe it’s because we’ve been going for several years now and I know what to bring. Or maybe because I’m more relaxed these days and am not as particular about what gets packed. Or maybe because I’m too focused on actually going – at this point, I could care less what I bring so long as I go, and in reality the less, the better.

In addition to the lists in my Filo, I also created a Google document. Our entire family goes and we have to plan who is responsible for what meal and what everyone is bringing. The easiest way to do this is to create a Google document and share it so that everyone can see and add to the list for food items.

In terms of my Filo, I have contemplated bringing my Guildford Slimline with only the necessary pages. It’s a week of “back to basics” – no television, no phone, no Internet – and so I rarely look at my Filo the entire week. Actually, the only time I do is to check on a phone number or as a reference for something. I don’t check my calendar pages – when away at the lake, we run on our own time. (This, by the way, is why I look forward to going every year and why I need to go.)

I know all of you Filo lovers out there will gasp when I say that I actually thought about not bringing my Filo at all. But I’d feel lost and naked without it. As my father always used to say, Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. So I will bring some form of my Filo with the hope of not needing to look at it once. I love the thing, but honestly, sometimes (like in this case) it’s more of a ball and chain than a help. But should I need it, it’s there!

While I’m away I will miss catching up with my Filo friends and what you all are up to. But it gives me something to look forward to when I return. Coming home is always the worst part for me – it’s very depressing. I’m not exaggerating when I say that my husband had to drag me to the car to leave (okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little, but it’s pretty damn close to the truth). So, knowing that there will be new Filo adventures to read about when I return will hopefully lift my spirits a little.

Between now and the time I leave, I’ll be planning for my favorite vacation of the year.