Hey Y’all! I’ve missed a few weeks of blog posts this month, but mum and I have both been sick. Mum has been battling the flu and I got some sort of left sided mumps. Yes, I did have the mumps as a child, but it is possible to get them again, especially as an older adult when your immunity is lowered. So since the whole left side of my face and neck swelled up, I was super achy, sore throat and a little feverish, mumps is the best I can do for explaination!
Anywho, I’m getting ready to take a trip to Maui with a friend next week and even though I’ve been mostly sick or keeping mum company for the past month, it’s been fun planning and dreaming about sandy beaches and luaus. We’re only just taking a quick 3 days and 3 nights trip, and I really didn’t NEED anything new, but I did a wee bit of shopping just because it’s spring and well, it’s fun to have something new and pretty to wear too!
When I was growing up finances were super tight, so my first real trip wasn’t until I was in my 30’s and when I got my passport at 39 it was like the whole world was open to me! My first and favorite International trip was to Italy, quickly followed by Mexico, Russia, Paris, Egypt, Greece and Canada. I loved travel! Every take off is a miracle and every landing is a fun roller coaster ride! At least that’s how I see them!
There have been some scary times, like getting lost from my bus group at The Hermitage in St Petersburg and using my little phrase book, lots of prayer and extra tip to get a taxi driver to take me all the way accross town to our hotel! It might sound not so bad, but I was alone in Russia I couldn’t read Cyrillic and I was frightened! Thank goodness for prayer and tip money!
But all that taught me some self reliance and it taught me that when I get off the plane, the earth is truly our shared home, the air fills my lungs, water is wet and wonderful, children laugh and yell when they play, and I’ve literally seen tomatoes growing in gardens everywhere!
Years ago I had a friend that I would have loved to travel with, and I might have gotten to Hawaii 10 years sooner if she had felt comfortable enough to go, but she was a plus sized lady, as am I, and she said she would love to go, but that she wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing shorts or a bathing suit at her current weight, so she kept putting it off until some future time when she lost her weight and could walk on the beach and go swimming per her self imposed, approved body image. And there were many other opportunities for fun that she missed out on because her body image kept her from relaxing and just enjoying life! All I can say is, I’m so glad I didn’t let my size, weight, nonperfect arms or cellulite thighs, keep me from travel and sharing fully in the joys and sights and textures of seeing the world! I’ve loved nearly every moment of travel and it makes me sad to think about all the wonder my friend has missed out on.
Since packing is a necessary part of travel, and it involves clothes, and sizes and making sure you have the necessities of life away from home, it’s been something of a challenge to conquer too. It’s not like you can run home and get a jacket if the weather turns unexpectedly cold, but there’s the trouble of checked and overweight bag fees and what happens if your luggage gets lost or stolen? Fortunately I’ve not had any lost luggage yet, but mum has, TWICE! Both times it was on her return home flight. The first time her bag went missing it was found and returned three weeks later and the second time it went missing it was just for one night, so not a total loss, but still the danger is there!
I have long envied those women that can pack for a 10 day trip using 1 carry on, but I’ve never been able to do that! I can honestly say that for Italy and Greece I packed WAY too much! I packed like I was moving there! Hah! But for Egypt and Paris I packed just about right.
So this is where body image comes in again. To really enjoy my beautiful trip, I need to be able to relax, let go and give in to the enchantment of Maui. The clothes I’m taking are all comfy, they all fit. I’m not trying to squeeze my body into a certain size, or starve myself for the next week to button my jeans. My shorts are long enough and roomy, with pockets for carrying beach treasures. Nothing is too dear to get potentially lost. Nothing to weigh me down or get tangled up in.
Mum and I went to Maui 4 years ago, and I was so happy to find that I should have packed a couple more pairs of shorts and left about half of what I brought with me back home. I’m determined to fit EVERYTHING into my carryon, so for this trip I’m just keeping everything super casual as per Maui dress codes and super comfy as per my dress code. I’m bringing my silver plumeria anklet and earrings and getting my toes done in purpley pink!
This is the first trip to Hawaii for my sweet travel buddy and she’s been so excited making travel lists and packing since we finalized our tickets a month ago and I really need to get packing too!
Just to go over my little list: I’m wearing 1 pair and packing 1 pair of jeans, 2 shorts, 2 pairs of flippys (one gold pair for dressy), 5 tops, 1 skirt, 2 bathing suits (cause wet suits are icky to put on again) underdoodles, some sleep shorts and tanks, a nice jacket and wearing a casual jacket. In my head it seems like it should all fit in my carryon. I’ll let you know if I have any troubles getting the zipper closed!
Am I missing anything? For three days I think I should be more than good. I can rinse out something if I need to, but there are also super cute shops, thrift stores, ABC stores, Walmart and Costco on Maui, so if I need anything I know Maui’s got it covered.
In my travel purse I’ll carry my daily doses and vitamins packed in baggies for each day. Make up, travel size soap and shampoo packed on top for TSA and leaving the bottles behind. Phone chargers, ear plugs, mp3, tablet etc go in there too. It zip’s and it’ll be under my feet on the plane,so these things should all be safe. I’ve got RFiD blocking sleeves for my credit cards to protect them from cyber theives, Audible books downloaded and my sudoku puzzles. A new travel pillow and little slippers in case my feet get cold on the plane.
Well, that’s about it I think. Packing is my least favorite part of travel and I usually end up unpacking and repacking a couple of times. I could always take more with me, but I really don’t want to. I’m hoping to bring back a few treasures and gifts and I want to save room for that, and this way I can lift my own bag up into the overhead without putting my back out too!
We hope all of you have had a wonderful February! It’s been super cold here in Northern California, but I know some of you are having beautiful warm weather! I’ll be sure and take lots of pictures on our trip to share when with you when we get back.
Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing our adventures with us! We appreciate you all!
Much love from Mum and me! oxo
NEW PAIR OF WINGS 