Motion sick!

As I told George yesterday, who is currently hard at work in distant Urumqi, but still able to use Skype, his dad and I have been working on our itinerary for November and December, trying not to feel overwhelmed. In the space of six weeks, we’re going to be in Chicago, Cambridge, Cardiff, Reading, London again, Stuttgart, Munich, London again, Ottawa (from time to time), Vancouver and Sydney. Perhaps with some other stops not yet listed. Chris will probably go to Cambridge on his own.

"That's a lot," commented George.

I replied, "And when we get back from Sydney in January we’ll have two weeks before we depart for London, Brighton, Cardiff etc. ..."

So it goes on. This year, Chris (and / or I) has (have) already visited California, Vancouver Island, Beijing, California again, the Gaspésie region of Quebec, London, Cardiff, Huntingdonshire / Cambridgeshire, Abstatt (near Heilbronn), Ittersbach, Pforzheim, Karlsruhe, Mainz, Burlington (Vermont) and Detroit.

From time to time it's impossible not to feel overwhelmed, but, as instructed before an IMAX show, you must simply close your eyes and wait till the feeling passes, when you feel motion-sick from the changing effects.

It hasn't helped that both my husband and my daughter have had to make big decisions about their jobs, this year. Both have been offered new positions which, after inner turmoil and long conversations with me, they have eventually turned down. My mother has been causing us concern as well; she fell over and cracked a bone yesterday, but is being kindly cared for at a familiar nursing home at present, where the whole family is now hoping she can be persuaded to stay.

Apart from Urumqi and Beijing, my son also stayed in Busan, S. Korea, as well as Kunming and then Guiyang, Guizhou, this summer. Not to be outdone, besides frequent journeys around England for various purposes, my daughter has visited Delft, Madrid, and Berlin and is about to set off to Beijing, to take part in some meetings and meet her brother there just before he and his family set off back to Sydney. She'll be making a side trip to Baotou City and beyond during her week in China, and she'll be setting off to visit Toulouse in November, also.

It's hard to keep track of where we all are at any one time. If nothing else, this blogpost can serve as a useful reminder.