SBNGAC-xyz

It feels like yesterday that I started planning for the KJ trip.

Ok, it was 5 months ago, but still, that's *almost* yesterday. So, it feels like a dream to say... SBNGAC-blah-blah is set! Well, the start and end dates have been set since a month ago. And I started planning around then, too. What I mean is, after staring at airfares for nearly two months, I finally bought tickets ^o^

I actually only stared at airfares for a month. But, I did start paying attention back in late December, when all those super low fares started cropping up. I could fly to Europe for a little bit more than one of my recent trips back to the east coast! That kind of super low. Of course, the fares were for the winter season, so that combined with the state of the economy certainly made it a nice traveler's market.

Lots of really great airfare deals in January and February, too, mostly for spring travel. The problem was the effective dates. Our departure fell within the restrictions, but our return didn't. In a normal market, the earlier you buy your tickets (especially if for busy summer travel), the better. But this is not a normal market. How many people will travel?

K guarantees those tickets I bought will go down. But he also agreed that buying was the right thing to do, considering our departure is a little more than a month out (M: stop self from freaking out).

Even if some really great flight sales do come up, I discovered that every single one seems to have a 30-day maximum stay restriction anyways. I did consider buying a one way ticket and then waiting to buy the return, but the specials require round-trip travel. Bleh, they conspire against us.

life is short, live it well

I received an email earlier in the week...
"For those of you who have not heard, it is with great sadness that I share with you that CS passed away Friday evening."

What? How??

"I heard that C was at a Costco parking lot when he was found slumped in his car."

Heart attack. 56 yrs old. In this day, that just seems so young. Especially for him. With his outlook on life, he sure seemed like he had many, many more years to go. Entirely easy-going, good-natured, young-at-heart. And the only person I know who I would ever describe as "jolly".

CS was one of a few I spoke with before going through with my current plans. His words at the end of it was "hey, if they (referring to my current management) don't want you back, call me, I'll take you!!" (and yes, with the !!'s) He wasn't just saying it either; he really meant it. From him, it meant 'even if I can't, I will bend over backwards to find you something good'. He was that type of person.

I last saw him in September, before KJ. I was going to let him know about the current update in plans, too. But this. Unexpected.

The memorial service was today. (Within the last six months, I've been to a church twice. Once for a wedding, and now, for a remembrance.) One of the most poignant stories his daughter shared during the service was receiving his delivery of flowers for her on Valentine's (he had died the day before). Thank goodness I was well-stocked with tissues. She's younger than I, too, so the empathy is even greater. (I had a nice, long convo with my dad this week. I should call him more.)

It turned out he also sent his sister flowers this year. She read us the note he wrote, which was something to the effect of "For some reason, I got the feeling I just had to send you flowers this year. So here they are. Happy Valentine's Day." Uncanny coincidence.

There's so much to take away from how CS lived his life. I have a lot to learn from his interactions with people. And one of his mantras that I definitely need to repeat to myself: Don't take yourself too seriously.

As for life being short, I'm happy I'm at least trying to act on this.

I'm sorry, KJ

It was during lunch with RV last week that I realized, yes, I really loved KJ... random KJ-trip-related stuff came up several times during our conversations. Short aside: I wonder if RV and I would have become friends if we had met randomly. He is, well, different from all my other friends. An example helps. Only he would say something like 'I'm just saying you shouldn't discount shrooms if you should ever feel like you really need a fresh and different perspective on things'. (Where would I get 'shrooms'??) All those sorts of differences aside, he has a good heart and that's probably how we became friends.

Anyways, KJ. KJ came as a three-part experience. Part 1: pre-experiences during the detailed planning (and massive pre-trip culture and language absorption). Part 2: the trip itself and all the little things that make you love being there, experiencing the world. Part 3: re-experiences through the pictures and memories.

The problem is part3-pictures was supposed to go hand-in-hand with part3-writing-out-memories. But it didn't. I figured out a more efficient pictures workflow and I finished, 2.6 weeks later than my intended schedule, but finished, *without* writing really anything about J. And there's so much to say.

So much to write, but my heart's already moving on, ready and running towards our next set of travels. My hope is that I'll write at least a bit more about J before I'm too far along into the next chapter.