Traumreise
German for "dream trip". We leave in July!
File this one under "things you may not know about Elizabeth" . . .
My husband, F, is actually German. Not Irish and Italian in the way that I am, a few generations back. F was born there. Most of the summers we've been together (except the last few) we’d spend at least two weeks visiting his family in Bavaria. We had talked on and off about spending a year there at some point. Our daughter could become fluent, my non-existent German could only get better, we'd be closer to his mom. So many reasons.
Well, we're doing it! We leave for Berlin in mid-July!
I'm really excited and incredibly freaked out about all the work that has to be done before we go. Renting our furnished home in Durham. Storing thirteen years worth of miscellaneous household items and of course three racks full of my clothes and shoes. So.Many.Stuffed.Animals and 1 million American Girl doll items to be packed. It’s a lot and wonderful all at once.
So, stay tuned and buckle up! Oh- and if you have any tips about how to pair down literally anything, I’ll take it.
What I’m Thinking:
Honestly? I’m flummoxed over how people are content wearing the same thing everyday or, for that matter, eating the same breakfast everyday. I crave difference and variety. Both are dooming me when it comes to what I can pack and take with me for a year!
I have some guilt over focusing so tightly on this huge trip ahead of me at the cost of other things. The starvation in Gaza, American politics, even volunteering. But I know this is temporary. In Wondermine, the time limited podcast my friend Larissa Parson and I created, we talked often about the seasons of life. We can’t always be the one who steps up for the event, to work the polls, volunteer for a campaign. Sometimes we need to attend to our own fire. I’m trying to do that now.
What I’m Reading:
A fable! One you haven’t heard before because it’s been seen first in The New Yorker. The Ant and The Grasshopper is a modern day (student loans! hook-ups! Bruno Mars!) “milennial fable” but there’s plenty about it that I held tight to. Fun and funny. Go read.
Sob! I finished The Covenant of Water late last week but I continue to pour over it in my heart. I “read” this book via Libby as an audio selection with author Abraham Verghese reading it. To say Verghese’s voice is delightful is to say the sky is blue. It’s not nearly enough of a description of the splendor but it’s about all I can muster about this genius of an author who reads his own work so beautifully. And I swear, I heard a catch in his throat at the end. A family saga through generations, India 1920s-1970s. Go read/listen to this masterpiece.
Friend, I have shared the Berlin news with some in my very close network but not widely (yet) on social. I wanted to put this news here first as a way for you perhaps to know how much your readership matters to me. Anyone can “like” a post but you’re putting your money where your mouth is when you clicked “open” on this email. Thank you, thank you. <3 Elizabeth.
So exciting! As someone who also does not do uniform and routine, but who likes to travel somewhat light for an annual trip abroad, here is my advice. Take your absolute favorite pieces—the ones that make you feel like a million bucks. Then buy some new favorites from thrift/charity stores while abroad. It is a bit fun to have a limited wardrobe for a bit, however—I find myself less worried about the appropriateness of what I am wearing—but that’s also because I packed my “million bucks” pieces.
This is so exciting! Consider a capsule wardrobe. It might help with the illusion of variety.