Change In Plans

Although in the photo (taken in Torrent de Pareis, Mallorca) we are all clinging to each other, this short post describes how each member of our family has adopted material objects or activities as “security blankets” amidst all of the uncertainty and change of continuous travel. This seems like a pretty basic human need, and a natural part of the transition process into this strange new lifestyle.

Tallulah has become very attached to a pink hairbrush, and to the activity of brushing her own (and her mother’s) hair. The original brush was a “Dora the Explorer” model, but that one got lost in Mallorca. The loss created major anxiety and drama until we were able to find a reasonable replacement the following day. To a certain extent, poor Lula has not fully internalized that we are travelling for a long period, and she talks about “going home to New Jersey today,” and “seeing Clara (our NJ neighbor) for a play date.” She is very happy and excited about the places we are seeing, but I don’t think it has all come together in her three-year-old brain.

In Mallorca, Zola was a little obsessive about buying Pokemon cards at a little shop in Port de Soller. Every day we gave him 2 Euro, and he went off to the shop on his own. To Zola’s credit, he studies the cards obsessively as well, and gave a tour de force

exhibition of rote memorization of facts on ~70 cards over dinner one night. Zola has also been clinging to the idea of playing his Nintendo DS and the idea of calling his friend, Matthew, on the phone. Until today, the batteries on the DS were flat, and we did not have a usable charger. He talked about the DS a lot, but wasn’t actually playing it. Same with his desire to call his friend, but they have actually only spoken once or twice since we left.

India has fallen back on running (absolutely normal for her), and on the activities of trip planning and packing. The busyness of finalizing details for a wilderness-lodge stay in New Zealand in six months’ time makes her feel comfortable, which is great for the rest of us. Same with packing: she is remarkably organized, and has made it very easy for Tallulah, Zola and me.

I am clinging to my Blackberry, and to the activity of a Turkish company I am on the board of. I am still a little surprised that my incoming e-mail has dropped from ~250 per day to ~10 (not including spam in either count). Still, I check obsessively, and respond to e-mails immediately, which is a little pathetic. Maybe when I hand in the corporate Blackberry at the end of this month, and go onto my personal e-mail account, I will start to break the habit. Since I stopped working, I have already given up chewing tobacco (cold turkey) and coffee (90%), so I know that bad habits can be broken. I am also spending a lot more time on my non-executive board responsibilities, probably for some flicker of feeling productive and engaged. And I like it, so it is probably OK.

Ultimately, all four of us will cling to each other as sources of stability and constancy while everything else is changing around us. That part has been very nice for me, particularly after years of being an absentee father and husband.