Me in London. (Please note, I’m pregnant in this picture. I did not in fact eat too many crumpets.)
Me in Capri.
I do lots of stuff other people tell me they’d never do.
Start my own writing business.
Become a group fitness instructor.
I lead a group of over 400 members for my local moms group. Spill my guts here on Stratejoy and on my own blog. Go to blog conferences alone, without knowing anyone, rooming by myself and have every bad thing I thought would happen to me, happen to me.
It’s true, I get nervous and anxious about those things. But blinded by determination, I just hold my nose and jump in the deep end.
You would think I’m sort of adventurous.
But I’m not.
I’ll strap on a mic and lead a group of 25 people through a step class and go right up and introduce myself to moms I meet at the park without thinking twice.
But I won’t travel.
I’ve never been much of a traveler. I prefer my own bed and my own house and my own coffee maker and my own routine. As much as I like to change things up and take on new challenges in my life, I don’t like to mess up my schedule.
Dan loves to travel.
Since he travels for work on a regular basis, nothing about traveling phases Dan. He’s an expert packer, moves through security like he’s preforming a graceful dance, rents cars and sleeps through the night easily in any hotel room.
Not me.
After Dan and I got married, he planned this elaborate honeymoon with stops in Capri, Rome, and the South of France. I didn’t participate in any part of the planning. I didn’t want to know about it because I knew it would freak me out. So I laid out my stuff and let Dan pack it all away and tried not to think about it.
Once we got to Capri, I did a little better. I took pictures, tried to relax, eventually was able to sleep even though the bed wasn’t anything like my bed at home.
But when we arrived in Rome, I wanted to go home. We’d been gone a couple of days, and the spontaneity of travel wore on me. I got tired of finding places to get a reliable dinner, sick of living out of a suitcase, craving my routine.
Since I knew I couldn’t just go home – and I really should enjoy the wonder that is Italy – I stuck it out and made it through the rest of the trip. I absolutely enjoyed myself. But there was a part of me that felt relieved to get home.
Dan’s tried to get me to accompany him on various business trips, get me to plan weekend get aways. But I won’t do it. The only other time he got me to go away was two years ago when he bribed me with an iPod Touch if I agreed to go to London and Paris with him.
What kind of a girl needs a bribe to take a fun trip with her husband?
Me. Miss Routine.
Anyway, this lack of adventurous spirit is not good for me. While I usually subscribe to the do what’s best for you and don’t force yourself mentality, I think this issue deserves an astrisk. There’s a difference between a genuine feeling of concern and an unwillingness to go anywhere because you prefer your own coffee.
Travel feels scary spontaneous to me. I’m don’t do stuff on a whim. I prefer to know how things are going to go. With travel, planes are delayed, hotel rooms get mixed up, and for someone who is directionally challenged, not know where I am, specifically, gets to me.
So while I can’t change who I am at my core, being more adventurous is on my list of Things To Do. I want to get away because, really, my everyday mommy routine can border on the mundane. Everyday is starting to look the same. Like my own personal Groundhog’s Day.
The thing about travel that I do like is the feeling of freshness. No matter how much I dreaded the trip, I always come back feeling renewed and inspired. But since I won’t make travel part of life, I don’t get out enough, and those feel-good feelings wash away fast.
I promised Dan I’d help him plan a weekend get away. Like, soon. I don’t know the when or where. But I do know why. Every so often I need to get away from what I know, get a new perspective, change up my view so I can come back to my every day life with renewed zeal.
Have you heard? The Stratejoy Book Club has officially launched!
We’ll be holding our first LIVE chat discussion. May 21st, 2012. Grab your girlfriends, some drinks, some snacks, and jam with Molly about this month’s book, MWF Seeking BFF by Rachel Bertsche.
Find out about the book, the live chat discussion, and how to host an event or attend an event right over here on the page with all of the juicy details.
