Chapter 2

“There's nothing worse than waiting and not knowing what'll happen to you. Your own imagination can be crueler than any captor.”
― Richelle Mead, Frostbite


So the countdown has begun, that can only spell relief, right? If only it were that simple.

I feel the need to share that I had some real anxiety around going to Jamaica. It was going be a really different kind of vacation for us. It would involve a lot of firsts for both of us. The unfamiliar makes me a bit anxious and I am the generally the calmer one. Strange places, strange people and crowds have on occasion proved taxing for the both of us.

I consider myself reasonably well travelled. I lived in Europe for almost a decade and covered a lot of ground while I was there. I have visited 38 of the 50 US states and been to 7 of 10 Canadian provinces. Fundamentally though, this has given me a great experience in the 'western' world.

Everything I was reading was telling me that Jamaica wasn't going to be like that. I had never traveled to the Caribbean. I had never been to a place where there would likely be frequent signs of people living in what I would describe as poverty. I have never been someplace where the price of almost everything is negotiable and everyone is an entrepreneur.

I was worried for me and I was really worried for my husband. This was my idea though, so it was time to be a big girl; I will cope. With some good planning and the right activities lined up, this should all be great. Once the vacation was booked, Sunshine had one other request.

"Please honey, can we just plan on doing nothing?"

"No problem," I say, "I mean, I am sure we will want to do a couple of things, but not more than one a day."

"No dear, I really mean, can we plan to do nothing?" he repeated.

"You mean like really nothing? But then we won't really get to see anything of the area. I am sure there are lots of things that we are going to want to see." I am thinking to myself that he must be crazy or I must have misunderstood. I mean why would you travel all that way and not see anything?

"But that should be ok, shouldn't it? We can just sit on the beach and enjoy the hotel? We are always off and doing things, can't we just try doing nothing for this trip?"

"Well, I mean I guess so. If it is that important to you," I concede.

"Promise?" he says.

"Well, ok, ummm I guess."

"No seriously, do you promise?"

"Yes dear, I promise."

What can I say? I talked him into taking a trip. I sold him on my destination of choice. I guess it is fair that he get to contribute some input on the whole thing.

This puts a real wrinkle in my normal pre-trip anxiety relief program. Normally, I would burn off my excess energy by compulsively planning an excess of potential activities for us once we arrive at our destination. I mean you never know when a little planning will come in handy right? On an average vacation, I swear I have a list of possible 'to-dos' twice as long as our trip will be. Now what am I going to do?