Solo Trip - The Leavening

In the two years since Jonas has been born and the four years since I've been with Kasey we've never been more than a day apart, and certainly not separated by most of the country.

Presently I'm in Colorado Springs on business, having left my home and my family early this morning to help migrate an office building full of people to my company's network. I'll be here until Thursday, and I believe this is the farthest west I've been since Kasey and I drove everything I could pack from Arizona to Virginia in two days.

I enjoy travel. The packing, the planning, airports and people watching. I even mostly enjoy flying, even though I get sick enough to get the sweats at the tinniest bit of turbulence. Taking off from Chicago to Colorado I really thought I was going to throw up for about forty-five minutes. Luckily a combination of chilly air blasting in my face and emergency meditation techniques kept my coffee and parfait down.

It feels weird not to have my partner with me. We're such constant companions that her absence is forgotten and then realized like the fresh loss of a limb. I turn to tell her things, make a joke, touch her hand, things I do all day, everyday without even thinking, but she's not there. Sleeping alone these next three nights is going to be foreign and difficult. And the days without Jonas aren't going to feel right, not one bit. I had to say goodbye at home; I wouldn't have been able to stand our farewells in the heightened emotional environment of the Norfolk International Airport.

But this should be fun. I love my job and have never been on a business trip before, so beneath the sadness of separation I'm excited. Colorado seems like a cool state, and it will be nice to actually meet some of the people I work with, three and half hours of Virginia and D.C. traffic between us most times. We might visit The Garden of the Gods, and I think I love hotels more than airports even.

More later, with pics!

David