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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Ongoing saga

Complication #542 - Though I can now go to the first faraway country, our new cameraperson (from the second faraway country) may not be able to enter the country. (Not just a minor inconvenience when your whole purpose of traversing the globe is to produce a film.)

I don't think I'm exagerating when I say it's the 542nd complication. Seriously. I started planning this trip in January, and nothing has gone smoothly. Absolutely nothing. When the dust settles, I'll write a long list of all the things that have gone wrong and I'll most certainly bore you all to tears.

Today, every time I open yet ANOTHER email with bad news, I find myself laughing hysterically. It's about all I can do. I'm way past Murphy's law by now.

Somehow, I must convince my brain that I really AM leaving for the other side of the world in 2 days. Somehow, I have to start getting at least marginally excited about it. How do you turn a knot of stress - that feels like it's the beginning of an ulcer - into a flutter of excited energy? How do you begin to pack for a trip you haven't been able to convince yourself you're actually taking?

Some of my colleagues are thinking of posting a "will Heather REALLY arrive at her destination?" guessing pool on the website. The winner gets a free t-shirt. Or an expired airline ticket.

Here's hoping my luck begins to change the moment I step on a plane. Provided I actually get ON the plane and don't get run over by it.

5 comments:

Linda said...

You've got to focus on rush you feel when the airplane speeds up on the runway and takes off. You KNOW that feeling. That's what you've got to focus on.

Nothing else can go wrong!

Janet said...

Linda's right about the rush of takeoff. When that happens, the feeling of excitement will help counter-balance many of the pre-trip problems.

Can't wait to hear more -- and GOOD LUCK!

Janet

Liz said...

I hope everything works out and you have a fabulous trip.

Hope said...

The right approach is certainly to laugh hysterically......
negotiating burocracy gracefully (or even spelling it!) is not one of the skills I possess.
hugs

Pamela said...

All this impediment makes me realize that wonderful things are going to happen or come from this trip.

Otherwise there wouldn't be such a battle going on to get you there,