It has been 352 days since I stepped onto a plane. Outrageous. I’m not saying I’m a jet-setting travel-mad wanderer, but I go here and there. Lately, it has been all here with wheels-on-the-ground there exclusively. Two weeks ago the WideEyedSpouse and I were so desperate to get out of town and move at more than 40 miles an hour that we drove 57 miles to a mall in Rochester to return a mail-order pair of pants that fit so poorly I wonder if they were even engineered for humans.

Rochester.

Surely you feel that pain as keenly as I?

Numbed by the inconceivably boring stretch of the 90, we didn’t speak out loud for the whole return journey. Clinka-clinka-clinka every now and again as I wolfed among the the highway herd (baaaah!), signaling my intentions.

Soon though, soon I fly again! Saturday I stood in the attic examining the luggage options as though I were preparing for an expedition. I’m going somewhere for three days. I could take a toothbrush and a credit card. Still, the proper luggage transforms the airport slog into the carefree adventure. Ah, my eye espied the WideEyedSpouse’s abandoned Crumpler messenger bag. I cackled and rubbed my hands together (alone, in the attic, not at all weird). Mine now. Perfect for the conference dresses, jammies, and spare kicks.

My little travel bottles are lined up on the bathroom counter, tiny travel soldiers, waiting for duty. The wee little toothpaste tube stands proud and unsquashed at the back. The tray table and hand sanitizers wait to save me from the flu, mrsa, and crusty human scurf (Personal rule #1: touch nothing unless absolutely necessary). Library books are downloaded to the ipad, noise canceling headphones juiced up…Which shows will I want to watch? Downton Abbey Season 1 or Westworld Season 1? Bring the knitting project or not?

My heart will ache without the Spouse and the Dog-Pals, but I am so ready to move fast, go far, and fling myself into someplace different. For a little while. Until I fling myself back home.