Last night, as I unexpectedly tucked into my own bed after not boarding a plane to Buenos Aires, I had a funny thought. Instead of telling Dan my trip was canceled, what if I had just rung his doorbell, suitcases in tow, and when he opened the door, said, “I forgot my toothbrush.”
I’m not sure why that struck me as so funny, except for maybe the contrast between the unimportant an*d important, the solvable and unsolvable problem.
It got me to thinking about what I was really looking forward to on this trip, and I realized that even though I can’t have exactly that, I have some reasonable facsimiles. I really love the girly-girl aspects of the cruising life. I like dressing better than I normally do at home. I like taking more time with my grooming. I like the lovely bedding. I like the nice ambiance of the restaurants. I like setting out in the morning into a new adventure.
Of course what I most like is having someone take care of me, but if that really matters, I can start taking a little better care of myself.
When I unpack today I am going to put everything except the dressiest stuff in the front of my closet, and I am going to wear it. Even though I am going to go as all-in as possible with self-isolation to do my part for my community, there isn’t any reason I need to wear my baggies while I do it.
If I decide a luxury bed experience is all that important, I can use my best sheets, make the bed more carefully, and fluff the pillows. I can put a piece of chocolate on my own pillow just as well as they can, if it matters. Nothing stopping me except how silly it sounds.
I can set a nicer table and spend more than the bare minimum of time putting a meal together. If I tidy up as I go, it just takes a minute to finish the cleanup for one person.
I can go out in the morning and have an adventure here.
The operative thing here is “if it really matters.” Well, actually it doesn’t. Maybe for the next few days, I will try dressing up a notch, and maybe I will go outside a bit more like a tourist in my own town, but really, life is so good that the chocolate on the pillow is just, well, frosting on the cake
And you know what? I think I may actually have forgotten my toothbrush. Doesn’t matter now. Some things are just plain easier when you’re home.