Empty Suitcase (I) (Lomo) (Photo credit: roeyahram)

As I try to think of anything I can possibly do to avoid packing, I find myself here; sitting cross-legged in my comfortable chair with my notebook and pen poised and ready.  I might as well jot down my thoughts.

I get loopy in the 24 hours before I travel.  Call it travel anxiety I guess, although I’m not afraid to fly.  My mind just will not focus and I flit around from task to task getting very little accomplished.  I know that I will go to bed tonight with nothing done except perhaps some jeans thrown in the suitcase, or that book I must have on the plane stuffed into my purse.

In the morning, I will calculate and re-calculate how many more hours until I have to leave for the airport and when the count is down to around two, I will go into beast mode and get everything done with time to spare.  I have always done this.  The length of the trip, where I am going or who I am going with doesn’t seem to matter.

Since I am not a procrastinator normally, this odd behavior on my part puzzles me.   The only explanation I can come up with is that somewhere deep down inside, maybe I wonder if I will really end up going so I wait until the last minute.  That doesn’t feel like the answer, but what else could it be?

My family doesn’t understand me and I have one aunt in particular who starts preparing for a trip sometimes weeks in advance.

If you have any ideas, please feel free to share.  Why would a normally focused, planner-type individual put themselves through this?

Excuse me, while I go do anything but prepare for my journey.