No Place Like Home

I just returned from my new hire training in Green Cove Springs, FL. This was the first time since Tyler and I have been married for me to travel by myself. When we go on vacations, I let him handle all the travel details such as the flight, rental car, hotel, etc. I'm usually just along for the ride, trying to keep up while pulling my heavy suitcase behind me. Well, this time I was on my own. First off, I'm not a huge fan of flying. Granted I did fly to Europe when I was 15 with a school trip, but back then for some reason, I didn't think twice about getting on the plane for 8hrs crossing the ocean. When I was 25 I flew to New York by myself and caught a taxi into Manhattan to visit a friend, but that was fine, I didn't have to drive. That brings us to the rental car anxiety. I had to get a car and drive about an hour from Jacksonville, FL to Green Cove Springs. I don't like driving in downtown Nashville, much less a different state where I have never driven. And lastly, the dreaded carry on. I didn't want to have to check a bag, so I decided to cram everything in my carry on including my laptop (which I swear made the suitcase magically weigh 20 pounds heavier). So now with my clear 1 qt bag with all my liquids, being careful not to break the 3-1-1 rule, I was off to the airport.

I set different goals to accomplish during my journey. First up security. I kept replaying in my head the best and fastest way to do the airport security strip. Get my laptop out, liquids out, shoes off, jewelry off, don't lose my boarding pass, etc. Finally got through security, redressed and headed toward my gate. Next on my to accomplish list was getting my carry on into the overhead compartment. I'm telling you, I kept thinking of all the things you take for granted when you are traveling with someone. All I kept thinking in my head was how in the world am I going to lift this what feels like a 50 pound suitcase over my head?? Fortunately, there was a young guy that boarded behind me, so I used the southern charm and asked him to help me. Whew, accomplished security and the carry on....next up the dreaded rental car.

I don't think I took a breath until the plane hit the ground in Jacksonville. I was already exhausted and I wasn't even close to being there yet. So, after almost (key word almost) knocking a guy in the head with my suitcase when getting it out of the overhead compartment, I was off to find my rental car. Okay, so that wasn't so bad, once I actually found the rental car desk. And now I'm finally off in my blue Nissan Versa headed out for my hour drive. Rental car accomplished...check. The drive ended up not being too bad since I had really good directions. So about an hour later I ended up at The Oaks, which ironically used to be a nursing home that they have renovated into office space and bedrooms. If you know my former job, you know why this is ironic.

I knew going in I would be sharing a room with someone I didn't know and that there would not be any tvs in the rooms.....excuse me what....no tvs?? My thought exactly, hence why the laptop came with me regardless of how much I thought it made my suitcase weigh. So overall, the next few days went pretty good. We had meetings in the day and on our own for the night. I met two great ladies that I went shopping and had dinner with. They were from Georgia with the southern charm accent to prove it. So how did the sharing a room with no tv work out you ask?My roommate was very nice, but snored every night (insert bless her heart). I ended up sleeping on the couch in the community tv room one night, but other than that, the sharing a room thing wasn't bad.

After all the meetings I was off to retrace my steps of driving back to the airport, returning the car, security strip, and getting my carry on stored. I'll spare you all the details, just reread the second paragraph because all the same anxieties were there. However, the most important thing to point out here is that I did it, and I did it all by myself while arriving home in one piece. My favorite moment though was when I was walking out of the terminal area and saw Tyler standing there waiting on me. I was finally home! Would I do it again? Only if I have to, but I'd much rather have Tyler there by my side. Especially because it would probably mean we were going on a vacation and not a work trip. One thing I learned about the past few days was that there is definitely no place like home!