Four weeks from TODAY!

Four weeks from today we leave! And you know what strikes me the most? It's just how different it is to travel with children. I mean, the old me would make sure I had a plane ticket, passport, maybe a place to stay, a few travelers checks and a lonely planet guide. I'd throw a bikini, a little black dress and some comfy sweat pants into a bag and be at the airport with just enough time to spare. 

Well, now let me introduce you to the new "type A" mum I have become. This new me has, not one, not two, but three spreadsheets, which detail out not only our cost, but also our accommodations, our leisure time, our tours, our contacts and even meals. Crikey! What happened to spontaneous me? I suppose it is a very different mind set to be traveling with so many dependents. Hoping on a late, late flight because you missed your earlier one doesn't look quite so appealing when you have to source dinner and entertainment for the kids. And yes, mothering has brought out the controlling side of my nature, but really, am I getting too obsessed?

And will all my planning make it any less chaotic on the road? The theory behind all that planning is that it will allow me to sit back and relax. Sip a glass of wine while quietly contemplating the days adventures. Serenely blogging about our perfect holiday and feeling quite smug. Enjoying the fruits of all my excessive list making.

Or perhaps will I turn into Field Marshall Douglas continuing on with my all consuming spread sheet? Herding the kids around the pyramids and acropolis and never seeing anything because I am fanatically getting ready for the next event preordained by my excel spread sheet. Hmmmm.

At least I can say that to be forewarned is to be forearmed. And I can be vigilant lest Field Marshall Douglas decides to show her head somewhere along the Nile.

With all the being said, I still have some columns on that spread sheet that need to be filled in. Over and out from mission control...