Di Is Abroad – Getting Set

I travel a lot. Like, a lot. Sacramento. Oakland. Portland. NYC. Chicago. Minneapolis. Phoenix. Denver. Austin. Miami. Detroit. New Orleans. Yes. I’ve been to plenty of these United States. What I have not done is board a plane to take flight to another country*. That’s about to change, folks. I’ve got a passport and a red eye flight ready to take me nine hours into the future, landing me on a little island you may have heard of called Ibiza.

These millennials have helped a sister out. I have a few of them as friends, and they always seem to be off on some worldwide adventure. Seeing their posts on Instagram and hearing about their travels once they return, I marveled at their ability. Like it was preternatural. When in my 20s and early 30s, I never even considered travel – not outside of a picturesque vacation in Hawaii or Bora Bora or some other tropical paradise I couldn’t even come close to ever affording. But these young friends of mine – travel is different. It’s not just a vacation to them. It’s a way of life. It’s always, what next – where else on this big, beautiful planet do I need to experience?

For the last few years, the threats have come. “Oooh, I’m definitely going to Italy next year.” Or, “You’re going to London? Wow, I should join you. I’ll apply for my passport next week.” Two years ago, I printed out my passport application. But didn’t persist when my initial attempts to schedule an appointment for processing failed. Something had to change if I was going to join the rich cohort of world travelers in my circles. So I bought a pair of tickets to Barcelona. One for me, one for my youngest.

It would be a birthday trip. A girls’ trip, once my oldest daughter decided to join. And with the ticket purchase came hotel reservations and passport appointments (CSUDH lets you book online appointments, FYI) and electric converters. Two weeks out, I am wound ready to depart, and a little anxious at the same time, worried about the long flight and converting my cash to euros…and the long flight. But I’m mostly excited, ready to start my globally enhanced life, making sure my kids experience new and different cultures and foods and languages.

I’ll be writing about our trip here, and posting as many food pics as possible on Instagram (@diateit). Just gotta get through one more week of work. And a trip to another US city: Indianapolis (thanks, club volleyball).

*I’ve taken a cruise to a few cities in Mexico, and stayed in a hotel across the river in Windsor while visiting Detroit.