AUGUST 8, TUESDAY

OFF TO MONTEVIDEO

Why is it so hard to get off on a trip? In fact, the whole process of leaving on a trip from beginning to end is unsettling. It starts with the willingness to go in the first place.

In the case of this trip I wondered where I might go during the summer. Europe was out because the air fares would be sky high and the Airbnb‘s would be crowded and expensive and the tourist sights would be jammed and the weather might very well be hot, which it has been. So I didn‘t consider Europe. Last year I chose, on a whim, to make a round the USA trip of 7,700 miles on Amtrak for the month of July and it was great fun. At the beginning of this summer Susie and I made a one week trip to Raleigh and New York City which was great fun.

The only summer overseas possibility was to go straight south to South America because it would be winter there and not tourist season. And I had read a New York Times article that depicted Uruguay as a very green and progressive place. Of course it would also be interesting, but by this point I‘ve discovered that every place on earth that I have visited so far has been interesting.

So I idly wondered about going to Uruguay. I would only go if the airfare dropped from $1300 to maybe half that. And at the beginning of the summer a cheap fare did appear to Santiago, Chile. I visited my doctor that day and he had just made a trip to Santiago and then to Patagonia and encouraged me. I wavered but finally decided the added cost of flying to Montevideo and back from Santiago would be expensive and there didn‘t seem to be an easy train or bus route. So I let Santiago, only available for a few days, slip away and didn‘t regret it. After all I was going to Sicily in October.

So when in the middle of the summer Montevideo from Asheville appeared at half price and I had already decided not to go I wavered again. Besides, now the flight was not offered in mid summer but at the very end of the summer. I would have only three weeks after coming back before leaving for Sicily. And combined with the Airbnb I would be spending a good amount of my savings.

But I‘ve learned that you can‘t dilly dally with Scott‘s Cheap Flights (now GOING). You have to decide instantly. So impulsively I pushed the button and bought the ticket knowing that I had 24 hours in which to decide whether to go or not during which time I could get a full refund.

So how to decide? I had no way of knowing whether I was making the right choice or not. Usually if I decide on something and feel a pang of regret within 24 hours I will back out of a decision. But I didn‘t feel anything during this time, regret or anticipation. I simply let the deadline pass and was suddenly going. With Susie‘s help I found a very nice Airbnb. I didn‘t have decide anything else. I could tell people I was going to Montevideo, hardly believing it myself. But I still didn‘t know if I had made the right choice and today as I finish packing I still don‘t know. But what I am guessing is that when I get to Montevideo and walk around the block a couple of times and shop at the farmer‘s market which is said to be in the street outside that I will wonder why I ever considered not making the trip and that I will be having the time of my life. Right now I know almost nothing about South America, let alone Montevideo, both are a blank to me. In the end my decision to go to Montevideo was more like stepping out of plane at 10,000 feel and hoping my parachute will open, a leap into the unknown with a hope that it will be fun. That is what pushing the button and buying the ticket on a whim has led to.

And then there is all that follows when you decide to make a trip. It is hard to let go and there are a number of practical things you have to tie up and fret about before you leave. But mainly it is difficult psychologically. It is very hard to let go, which is why most people don‘t go in the first place, but your body and your mind, always trying to anticipate what is coming next, insist on letting go so that your everyday world begins to fade away and become less and less important. You are here but you are gone at the same time. And when the time comes, today, I have already let go and am concentrating on how to get from the Montevideo airport to my Airbnb with all my stuff. If I were told that my flight was delayed by a day, or even six hours, I would be irritated. I‘m ready.