Trip Dread ™ has become a common phrase in our home. Trip Dread is … well it’s pretty self-explanatory, right? It’s the dread one feels before embarking on a work-related trip.

When either Susan or I go on a work trip, there’s a certain amount of internal dread that builds before we leave. The person doing the traveling, whether it’s Susan or myself, always feels sad because we’re going to be away from our family for a week. But there’s also a certain amount of guilt that goes along with going out of town for a trip and leaving your significant other at home to care for our children. Watching two kids by myself isn’t the end of the world by any stretch of the imagination, and we all know I don’t do things exactly “like Mommy does,” but so far I haven’t killed or lost one yet. (Truth be told, I’ve come much closer to killing one than losing one.) I don’t know which parent the kids prefer to be left with for a week at a time, but when Mommy’s out of town, the kids and I eat out almost every night and tend to visit a lot of parks and/or Jumpzone. Just sayin’.

And then there are weeks, like next week, in which both Susan and I will both be out of town. Both of our bosses have been great at not scheduling us both out of town at the same time, but sometimes it happens. This week (for three nights), the two of us will be in Washington D.C. together. While not insurmountable, having both of us on the road at the same time does cause quite a bit of scheduling hassle for us. Right up front, we have to schedule a house sitter. That’s just a given at this point; even with an alarm, a fleet of security cameras, and a couple of vigilant, retired neighbors, I still don’t like leaving the house empty. Second, we have to find people to watch our kids. Times and days got so complicated that Susan ended up making a schedule (of which I myself was only recently was handed a copy) using Microsoft Excel. The kids will be staying with Grandpa one night, one Grandma one night, and the other Grandma another night. Some of those nights take place at our house. I feel really awful about shuffling the kids around like this, even though I’m sure they will have a good time and the week will pass more quickly for them than it will for us.

So, back to Trip Dread. Trip Dread manifests itself in a couple of different ways, the biggest of which is procrastination. And procrastination often manifests as “getting sidetracked”, especially while packing. It starts with a legitimate thought (“Don’t forget your iPod!”) Ah, but is the iPod charged? I had better plug it in to make sure! Oh, and while it’s plugged in, I had better make sure that every song I might possibly want to hear over the next four days is on here! Oh, and you know what? For months now I’ve been meaning to comb through my music list and delete the duplicate songs off my iPod. Now’s a good time to do that, right? Let’s see here, I’ve got most of the Weird Al albums on here but … hey, where’s the latest one? I know I have it around here somewhere! If I can’t find it, I guess I’ll go upstairs, dig out the original, and re-rip it real quick …

Suddenly, I went from “packing my iPod” to “ripping a CD to put on my iPod”. Did I mention my iPod holds 32 gigs of mp3s, and is completely full? That’s enough music for a four-week trip, much less four days. If, God forbid, I run out of music on that thing, my iPhone has another 16 gig of music stuffed onto it. Two hours before time to leave for the airport, it is complete irrational to be worrying about what mp3s are on my iPod.

Or, you know, writing blog entries.

I’ve referenced flying twice in this post now, so I might as well address that: Yes, I’m flying to Washington D.C. Yes, I’m planning on doubling the recommended dose of Xanax to get through the experience. Yes, I expect to be groggy and completely worthless for several hours after the flight. Yes, I’m secretly looking forward to that part of the experience. Susan and I will be sitting side-by-side in a row of two seats. Yes, I am counting on her to make sure I get on and off the plane, wipe my drool, and get me checked in to the hotel. Isn’t traveling fun?

In 2010 at my last government position, I traveled to Washington D.C., Chicago, New York City, and Denver. While it wasn’t truly a factor in my departure, I was looking forward to moving into a non-traveling position. In the last year since arriving in my new non-traveling position, I’ve been to Baton Rouge, Wichita, South Bend (Indiana), and Las Vegas. Tonight I’ll be in Washington D.C.; two weeks from now, I’ll be in Greensboro, North Carolina.

I got over any pride, prestige, or “honor” that comes with traveling for work a solid ten years ago. Back then, the thought of sitting in an unknown restaurant, eating steak by myself seemed exciting. Now it seems … lonely. Then again, maybe that’s just the Trip Dread talking. Suffice it to say, to any of you who are remotely jealous of my “jet-setting” ways, know that I would trade with you in a heartbeat.

About the only thing I enjoy about traveling these days is meeting up with online friends, both old and new. During my trip to New York City last year I got a two-night walking tour of the city from Grandmaster Ratte from the Cult of the Dead Cow. Last week, while driving through Albuquerque, I had dinner with Charles (Ubikuberalles) and Paul (Pantechnicon), old friends of mine. After having been online for close to twenty years now, I have friends in almost every state. Surprisingly I can’t think of any that live in Washington D.C., but I’m going to be so busy with work this week that I doubt I would have much time for extracurricular activities anyway.

Eventually, logic wins out over Trip Dread, and that is where I am now. I need to leave for the airport in about an hour, so it is time to finish packing (and deleting all the duplicate mp3s off of my iPod). See you on the ground, one way or another …