Exactly how DOES one prepare to take a two week vacation to ...anywhere?
So, it started with me walking into the office on a Tuesday and saying "hey maybe I should take a two week instead of a one week vacation". Ten minutes later vacation day #1 officially started. (Note: Due to investment banking regulations, every employee is required to take an annual 2-week vacation. And, due to tight team calendars filled with client visits, road shows, hedging programs, and well vacations... Sometimes you just gotta get it in where you can fit it in. Lucky for me, I have a Nomadic Soul.)
I stopped in at the Barnes & Noble down the block and grabbed guidebooks to Turkey, Greece and Vietnam. Then I basically spent the rest of the day running errands and cleaning my house. (note: you never want to come back from a 2 week vacation to a messy home) I had no idea what would happen to me overseas so I grabbed dinner on the Highline with my momma. As we watched the sunset with our Dos Caminos box dinners, I said a little prayer to the rain gods to keep the brewing thunderstorm at bay.
My mom makes a few phone calls and secures a sisterfriend of hers in Turkey to show me around the city and possibly put in some volunteer days for a non profit community development organization. Uhhmmm, mom it's vacation...but OK, sure ...why not? I am blessed. Share the blessings. After a short phone call, the woman says to call when I land and we will take it from there. Did my vacation just turn to work? Sure why not!
The next day I got up early, packed a bag (and not just any bag...my handy dandy carry fold over carry on Tumi which i love so much I may just marry it...I mean it's already invited on the honeymoon), grabbed a mani pedi, and cleaned some more since I made a mess looking for cargo shorts a converter.
That afternoon it was off to the airport to get on the standby list for Turkey (Luckily for me, my cousin is a flight attendant and I get to fly on a companion pass every now and again). I waited ...waited ...waited and FINALLY after the last paying passengers got on the plane...they called my name and gave me a boarding pass. I did a little jig in the aisle and as I made my way to the seat, I chatted up the passenger friends I'd made while sitting on the floor charging my phone at the only socket in the gate. One of my favorite newfound friends was a Turkish college student who offered o take me clubbing in Istanbul. As I unpacked my flight necessities - hoodie, noise cancellation headphones, fuzzy socks, chapstick, lotion, book, magazines, nosh- ...I got a tap on my shoulder. The flight attendant asked me to give up my FREE seat to a late PAYING passenger that made it to the gate JUST as they were closing the doors.
I WAS CRUSHED!! ...but not for long. I have a bag and I am in the airport. No way I'm going home. OK, Plan B. I talked my way into the Sky Lounge to quickly devise said Plan B. ..Ok, oK, OK!! There's a flight to Rome that departs in an hour and it's wide open. I get a First Class seat! I'll just figure out the details when I land.
