Vacation anxiety

For the past two days I've been working in a bit of a frenzy, trying to get all the pieces I've started at and since jewelry camp finished before Friday. That's when we leave on a 3-week trip we've had planned since December. At the moment I can't really believe that it's going to happen: there's so much that has to get done before Friday that it's easier to imagine that it won't happen than it is to imagine that I'll get it all done and leave. Also, the thought of leaving my tools behind for that long is causing mental hyperventilation ... well, that sounds like a hole in the head. Let's just say I'm having a constant low-grade anxiety attack.

Oh, and just so it's clear how totally nutso this reaction is, here's where we're going - that's right, Greece. This is a picture of Hydra, one of the three islands we'll be visiting. It's so freaking quaint that donkeys take your luggage up the hill to the hotels - but it's also supposed to be the most cosmopolitan, to take a word from their own website, of the Greek islands. It's also the preferred hideaway of famous folks like Leonard Cohen and Brice Marden and various Greek celebs I don't know. Here's the obligatory picture of the donkey taxis. We're also going to Paros and Santorini. Pretty great, right? So why am I so stressed?

First, big events are stressful, even when they're happy events - think about every wedding you've ever been to/participated in. I'd say three weeks in Greece is a big event for just about anybody. Second, at heart I'm a complete homebody. There's nothing I love more than waking up at home in my own fabulous bed with my own fabulous partner knowing that there are no external demands on my time for the entire day. I can amuse myself for weeks on end with jewelry-making, painting, reading, and just plain hanging out. Third, to paraphrase the MIL, who, at 76, is a gung-ho world traveler, going away is hard, being away is easy. Sardine-style flying, dragging overloaded suitcases hither and yon, figuring out train and bus and hydrofoil schedules... ok, now I'm starting to feel embarrassed about all this kvetching. We're going to Greece, after all!

So how do I deal with this tool-separation anxiety? I might take some thin silver wire and a couple of crochet hooks to work on crocheted wire pieces, though they kill my fingers. Mainly though, I'm trying to think of this trip as an inspiration workshop. I plan to fill up my eyes, mind, and camera with colors, textures, and shapes that I wouldn't normally see. I'll pack materials for sketching and painting, and I'm taking my computer, so there will be writing going on as well. (Truth be told, I have non-blog-related writing to do this summer and I'm hoping to get a start on it while we're away.) Along with the obligatory beach-reading, napping, walking, sightseeing, etc., I should be so busy that I hardly notice the absence of my pliers and my torches and my hammers and my kiln and....