for the trip

Last night I came home to discover a present from Henry. It was neatly wrapped in a dark green Barnes and Nobel plastic bag, lying at the edge of the counter. He said that I could see what he had bought, but I could not open them until our trip. I knew from the shape that it had to be a magazine. I was stumped. I had just stopped by B&N during my morning walk to escape the oppressive humidity and heat. I browsed through the travel section, but none of the table of contents included any of our New England stops.

So I was delighted to find a couple of my favorites, which I have not treated myself to in a couple of years now. The first was the latest copy of HOW Magazine’s Future Issue. But the real wow factor came with ID’s 53rd Annual Design Review. For some reason we can’t bear to recycle any of our old Design Reviews. We probably pick them up and browse more than any of our other magazines. The same beautiful products, year after year – many of which are now permanent fixtures of our everyday life. So I am looking forward to discover the latest products that I will certainly covet by the end of our vacation.

So I have started the packing process by creating a little pile of our books and magazines that we will take with us. I always grew up taking activities along with me, where ever I went. Too many things to read, papers to work on, journals to fill. I probably most aware of it with my cousin’s children, who also bring along their toys in small containers when they enter my mom’s house. I see this habit already well formed before they were in pre-school.

Last night, when Nicolette asked me what my mantra is, I told her it was “be light.” I like to think of that term loosely, in lots of different ways. However, it is hard to be light when you are literally weighted down with bags of reading and to do’s. This is supposed to be a vacation. So I am cutting myself off to the two surprise gifts, travel books and Eat Love Pray, which I accidentally left in the car after our drive back from NC. It is tempting to load anything you want in the car when making a road trip. And, this will be our longest road trip ever. Nine days in the car makes it even more tempting to over pack. But we made it with one carry-on and one suitcase each for six weeks in Europe last summer. So I think that we can make it just over a week. Plus there is always our credit card, if we need anything.