Trading favors
Leaving town for more than a day or two can be a lot of work. For my upcoming trip, going out of town has literally been my job.
Months and months ago my Bossman pitched the idea of helping to plan a trip with international educators in Greece. It wasn’t a request. He’s the boss. Even if I pretend otherwise, his job really is to tell me what to do.
“It’ll be so great,” he said with boyish enthusiasm. “You’ll help to plan the trip to ‘sing for your supper,’ and you will get to go to Greece.”
I must admit, it sounded grand the way he described it.
No one mentioned I would need to arrange air flights for about 50 educators, learn the hard way about the realities of obtaining a travel visa in places like Mali and Chad, or stay awake until 1 a.m. to plead for special treatment from a visa official in Senegal.
I learned how fortunate we are to be Americans, where permission for travel does not require proof of money in the bank or a written statement that a job is waiting when you return from the journey.
The United States ranks in the top 20 countries for “travel freedom,” according to something called the Henley Passport Index, https://www.henleyglobal. com/passport-index/ranking.
For most travels, Americans can simply obtain a passport and occasionally fill out travel forms online. This leaves us plenty of energy to complain about airplane food and the narrow seats on the plane.
The hardest part of getting out of town is the preparations.
We need to ask for time off work and then hustle on the job so we don’t leave our coworkers in a lurch.
Next, you need to get your act together:
Arrange to pay your bills
• Packing
• Repacking
• Locate the passport
• Finding someone to water the plants
• Removing things from the suitcase so it weighs less than 50 pounds.
Every time I think of getting a cat or a dog, I think about what I would do about my cat or my dog if I went out of town. Over the years, many friends have called me to help with a pet and sometimes they call when I’m extremely busy. It’s a simple request to pour some kibble in a bowl and check the water dish. However, dogs need to go for walks.
Even friends who have a cat prefer that a kitty-sitter hangs out on the couch and gives the furball some love.
These friends are brave to ask me. I might fall in love with their cat and decide to feed it wet food at my own house.
For my upcoming travels, I only need someone to water my plants. You would think this would be easy, but I don’t have much negotiating power due to COVID.
“Hello friend.”
(Brief but meaningful conversation ensues).
“I know we haven’t seen each other since before the pandemic. Sorry I forgot your birthday. Remember when I fed your cat five years ago when you went on that majestic vacation?