Roles reversed as trip looms on horizon

It’s like the plot of Freaky Friday. 

Except I’m not switching roles with a parent or my daughter.

I seem to have become my wife, and she’s turned into me.

There’s no sugarcoating it, I’m a procrastinator. Give me months to work on a project or get something done, I’ll wait until the last possible minute, so much so that I miss deadlines.

It’s a character trait I’m not too proud of, and I have been making valiant attempts at reversing. 

But it’s a work in progress.

When it comes to any sort of trip I may be taking, I’ve always been the one to pack for said trip the day, or a mere few hours, before we embark. 

My wife, on the other hand, is the complete opposite in this aspect. 

A master planner, she’s always making sure important items get handled ahead of time in an effort to ensure they get completed. 

When we travel, her bags are packed days in advance. I’ve never grasped my head around this concept because there are a lot of items — glasses, contacts, inhalers and other various medications — I need daily. I’m not going to pack them away just to get them out every day until the trip. 

Hence my procrastination when getting ready for travel. 

This time around, though, I’m the impatient one — like Chrissy is normally — whereas she is being more nonchalant about it.

Here’s the sitch. 

(Do people even use that slang for “situation” anymore?)

We’re getting ready for our fourth trip across the pond to Ireland.

This time, we have our new companion; our soon-to-be 1-year-old daughter.

This is why the roles are reversed.

I am getting anxiety, and I don’t normally suffer from the affliction, that we’re going to forget something.

Any parent knows that an infant requires a lot of things. Food and all the accessories (like bottles or utensils). Toys. Diapers and all the accessories (wipes, creams).

The necessity of these items is exacerbated when taking a transatlantic flight. They’re not often sold in airports as infants aren’t the typical demographic of airline passengers. 

Then there’s the fact we’re traveling with a car seat and stroller.

Needless to say, in addition to packing and accounting for the gear we require as adults, it takes extra care to make sure we have everything for our daughter. This is especially true considering it’s her first flight, it just happens to be six and a half hours long and we are doing this for the first time. 

Therefore, I’m hell-bent on making sure we get packed as early as we can so we’re not in a hurry and we have everything we “think” we’ll need. 

When I need my wife’s master planning skills to be put to good use, she is in no hurry to implement them.

Instead of her making sure we’re packed on time and me being more carefree with the timeline, we’re the opposite. 

I’m the one stressed to the max ensuring we have everything we need, and she’s indifferent to my sense of urgency.

A current colleague of mine who travels often for work told me this: when traveling, don’t stress over forgetting something you can buy when you get there. 

Her advice is spot on. If we forget something it won’t make or break our trip. It’s not like we’re going to a remote island or deserted place where there are no amenities. 

We’re going to a developed, thriving world capital. If we overlooked an item to bring with us, we’ll be able to buy it upon our arrival.

I just hope it’s not a big-ticket item.

••••••••••

Chris Schanz is a former CR Sports Editor getting ready to travel with an infant for the first time. Send tips ASAP to [email protected].