Summer Reflections

The summer is officially here. It’s hot and muggy. The fireflies are dancing in the evenings among the vines that cover the trees outside my apartment window. And I’ve broken out the sleeveless shirts in my wardrobe.

For me, every summer is different – and that’s not just because I’ve moved about the country a lot. Beyond the weather – hot as Hades in Phoenix, muggy in Florida and Maryland, pleasantly breezy in Northern California – every summer has its theme.

The summer I turned 17 (my birthday is in August) was an awakening that guys found me attractive. Silly guys – don’t they know a geeky frump when they see one? Oh, well, no accounting for taste.

The following summer, I spent in England as an exchange student. That summer was emotional – just before I left for the airport I discovered my grandmother had died. So, for nine weeks I mourned among strangers while trying to enjoy my overseas experience.

This summer is full of promise. I’m frantically trying to balance two very exciting projects. I’m going to Spain and Romania in September and launching The Genre Traveler when I get back.

This fall’s trip will be the third time I’ve left the U.S. The first, I was only 2-1/2 years old. I didn’t need to worry or plan anything. In fact, I don’t even remember the trip. All my memories begin in Kenya – the country my family went to live in for 2-1/2 years.

The second was my AFS exchange student trip. I was 17 years old and spent 9 weeks traveling about England. I stayed with four “families” – a traditional family with two kids, a single woman, an older couple and a single mother – and two work camps – ATD Fourth World in Frimley and the Derbyshire International Youth Work Camp in Derbyshire. I planned a little, but AFS and my parents took care of most of the worries.

Now that I’m pushing 40, I’m going to Spain for a little more than a week to visit family I’ve never met and participating in a writer’s cultural exchange program for 10 days in Romania. All the planning is up to me. And with 9/11 security making air travel more challenging, planning is very important. I’ve become a big fan of onebag.com.

So this year, instead of worrying about how I look in a swimsuit or searching for the best ice cream sundae, I’m making lists and checking them thrice. I’m traveling light this time so I can get the most out of my short time abroad. Yes, summer is here and full of promise. So, where’d I put that list again?