It's getting close! In a few weeks the year will have turned and I will feel justified in beginning to think about and plan where we will go this summer. The planning and dreaming will sustain me as I climb the last weeks to the peak of the school year.
That's the problem with winter break, it feels like the midway point and it should be the half way mark of the school year, but it isn't. It is actually the hell that is the last few paces as I crawl, on bloodied knuckles over jagged rocks littered with the bodies of the fallen, to the summit of misery. Its the time where I am certain I will not survive the weeks and months ahead. Its where I cry for no reason, slam doors, laugh at inappropriate times, render myself generally ineffective, embarrass myself with my cynical attitude, and wonder what good can come of my life.
Yup. It really is that bad folks. I'm sorry if you feel bad for me. Don't. I choose this career for the sole purpose of being able to travel. Any other profession would give me a measly 2 weeks vacation a year. There isn't anything in this world I would ever want to do for work 50 weeks of the year. I don't even like work. I do what I have to do until I can pack a few changes of clothes and a good book in a backpack and go off as far away as my budget will allow.
But back to that planning. School can be made just bearable enough when I think about castles and train trips in Romania or jungles and river trips in Colombia- two places that are top on the list. They were top last year too but the DR won out to make the kids happy. And I had a way better time than I thought in the DR. In fact, I would go back if there weren't so many other places I wanted to go!
Asia tops the list, Malaysia specifically. But the plane tickets alone would eat the entire budget for the trip. So we stick to South and Central America. Not complaining!
