It's been two years since I traveled out of the country for work. Last time I was in London was when Gage was 6 months old. I had convinced Jeff to come with me somehow . . . and we even arranged for Jeff's parents to watch the two older kids. After diligent preparations and 'thinking of everything', I realized the night before the trip that we did not have a passport for our littlest man. The parents that had just returned from living in a foreign country for years - and knew
very well about the passport restrictions . . . completely forgot. It was devastating. I spent the night canceling flights, rearranging flights and crying.
Fast forward two years, and I couldn't convince that very same husband to come with me and bring our 10 month old. Jeff said something like, 'absolutely under no circumstances would I travel 13 hours with a baby on a plane' and 'are you crazy!?' So, I traveled without my family.
And, there was more sadness and crying and regret as I drove away - and my whole family waved from the front window. Lots more tears.
Luckily, I traveled with good friends from the company - all of whom were leaving their littles at home as well. And, we commiserated. And, we talked about them. We shared pictures and stories and family traditions and talked about how - although we were missing our families terribly - we all felt loneliness especially for our spouses, left at home alone with our kids.
And, we endured the 13+ hours of traveling. And, we worked hard on presentations and slides and leading discussions and analyzing numbers for days.
And, then we partied like rock stars at night!
I absolutely despise the leaving. But, once I'm there . . . I do take full advantage.
