Planes, Trains and Orthotics: A Middle-Age Woman's Guide to Travel

 It’s been a busy few days of hiking, visiting with friends and of course, more shopping.  I have been anxious nearly the whole week about how we are going to get all our purchases home.  This anxiety has not deterred me from buying things—it’s just left me anxious.  As I have only used up one travel toothpaste and two travel bottles of mouthwash, I fear extra space in my suitcase may be at a premium. My sister, clearly the “philosopher-queen” amongst the two of us, said in the midst of my angst, “Practical people run the world, but dreamers change it.”  There is a lot of truth in what she said but why that has anything to do with how we are getting everything stuffed in our luggage, is beyond me.   I had been really looking forward to our lovely spa day particularly since I have had a knot in my neck that I thought a seasoned sailor would have trouble loosening up.  My hopes were dashed when I saw the tiniest masseuse—in fact, maybe the tiniest woman—...

 Yesterday, our day consisted of shopping and then some more shopping.  I was game because the sun was out and we were headed north into the interior of County Donegal, ann area in which I had yet seen.  Our ultimate goal was to arrive in the small city of Letterkenny, because it had two incredible sights to see: Penney’s, the bargain department store and “TK Maxx,” Ireland’s version of our TJ Maxx.  Needless to say, I took no photos. But before arriving in Letterkenny, my sister and I, along with her dear friend, our driver, had to stop at a store that sold homemade pine furniture. Neither my sister nor her friend were exactly sure where the store was located, even though both had been there before. The main reason for their uncertainty is that when you are in the middle of nowhere, things all look alike.  My sister tried to use Waze, and after putting in “pine furniture store,” an address came up! Unfortunately, it was 642 miles away and while Donegal is a big...

Up front, I am going to say that thanks to the undeniable overuse of my United credit card, I was able to obtain a round trip airlines ticket from Newark to Dublin for only $46.  There were moments during the flight however, that I thought I might have been taken to the cleaners.   I am of average height and weight, but I swear to God, either my butt has gotten a lot bigger or the seats on the plane have become a whole lot smaller! For a short flight one can  live with an undersized seat and no leg room (or in some cases, come to terms with a bigger butt) but when you are on the early side of your mid-sixties and want to sleep at least for an hour on the flight, $46 is a lot of money for so much discomfort. I was however, armed with Tums, as I have noticed that the meals on the last few United flights have consisted of some overly cheesy, glue-like looking pasta and curry chicken.  I always choose the chicken because the pasta is that unappealing, and thus, the ...

 There used to be a commercial after major sporting events that would say something like, “Joe Montana, you have just won the Super Bowl for the San Francisco 49ers, what are you going to do next?”  And Joe, like so man big winners, would say, “I’m going to Disney World!”  I think it’s fair to say that I have absolutely nothing in common with Joe Montana, but in the last month, and particularly the last seven days, I, like Joe, have been asked a similar question, because I am now officially retired.  I can’t tell you how many people have recently asked me, “You’re retiring? What are you going to do?”  I didn’t feel the need to outline for them my short-and-long term plans on how best to fill my days or to remind them that “retirement” usually means cutting back on work and relaxing more. Instead, I just told them, “I’m going to Ireland!” And thus, my one and only similarity with Joe Montana— we provided others interested in our future with a short response that ...