Our Annual Sister Trip to Ireland

 On Friday, my sister and I are again headed to Ireland. It’s been a long year and much of our time together over the last 12 months has been addressing issues regarding our aging mother and I am looking forward to spending some quality time together. This year, my sister’s friend from graduate school will be joining us and if I remember her correctly (I haven’t seen her in 20 years) she was a lot of fun. 

That being said, two issues have already come up between us sisters: 

1. The size of my suitcase. I wanted a new, larger suitcase because I was sick of sitting on my old, inadequate one every time I bought too much while traveling—often in the company of my sister. I frankly was sick of worrying about the zipper giving out somewhere over Newfoundland and consequently asked for and received a lovely new LARGE suitcase for my birthday. I am so excited because unless I burn up my credit card with purchases, my butt and the top of the suitcase will no longer need to make contact.  

My sister however, was less excited about my new travel-wear. She reminded me that there will be three sets of luggage in a small car and that my larger piece of luggage may might not fit in the trunk.. I was non-plussed and said that my suitcase and I will gladly sit together in the backseat.  My luggage bravado did waiver for a minute when my sister then told me that she only planned to bring a carry-on.  She told me however, that between the presents she was bringing for her friends and all the things she needed for the house, she was only packing two sweaters and two pairs of pants and planned to pack her socks in the new salad spinner she was bringing to the house because she couldn’t find one “anywhere in Ireland.” I rallied and graciously offered her space in my luggage so that her footwear did not have to commingle with a kitchen appliance.  She was at least amenable to the idea, but I think my luggage and I will still be taking up the backseat. 

2. The Itinerary. In the past, our sister vacations in Ireland consisted of many things unique to the island including great hiking with beautiful views and great food like the best brown bread I have ever eaten, Kerry Gold butter and scrumptious salmon. But mostly, we did a lot of reading, relaxing and visiting with friends. 

This vacation may be a bit different.  I came to this conclusion after my sister off-handedly described the first leg of our journey.  We will be leaving Newark at around 5:30 pm on Friday.  Prior to arriving at the airport, my sister will have driven six hours from her home in upstate New York and I will inevitably be running around with last-minute errands and making sure that there is enough room in my suitcase for whatever my sister needs to include in it. We are then scheduled to arrive in Dublin at about 5 am. I doubt that we will get much sleep on the plane because we were both too cheap to pay for Economy Plus seats and I anticipate we will be stuffed like sardines in Economy “seats” making sleep nearly impossible. After picking up my large piece of checked luggage, we will race to pick up our rental car so that “we” can drive (Full disclosure, I have yet to drive in Ireland) 3 1/2 hours across the country to the West Coast where my brother-in-law’s family house is located.  Once arriving, we will get the house in order, shop for food, and I am sure we will need to call the Irish internet service, Eircom, to try to get the “wireless” up-and-running—a service that has yet to be functioning on previous arrivals.  We are then scheduled to go out to dinner with friends and then head afterwards to a pub several towns away to hear an Irish singer who only sings at this particular pub once a month. 

My initial thought on the itinerary was to say to my sister, “Are you out of your mind?!” This is a schedule for a group of college sophomores not three  60+ year old women. At home, I think I am living recklessly if I am still dressed and not in my pajamas when “Jeopardy” begins at 7 pm! I did not mention these misgivings but just asked my sister, “Do you think our heads will first hit the table during dinner or at the pub?” Without missing a beat, my sister said, “The dinner table.” I personally think it will be a coup if we are even able to make dinner.  

And so my sister and I are just about to begin another adventure together. It may be a bit different but I guarantee that there will be plenty of laughs along the way…assuming we can stay awake.