Wanton Wednesday – Traveling Alone

W recently decreed that Wednesday is “Wedge Wednesday,” and on Wednesdays I am going to start wearing some little reminder of him for the day, such as the cunning little strap he made me, or thong panties, or some other type of device. Unfortunately this week, when it would have been especially nice to have that little memento of him between my legs, I misplaced the strap and didn’t pack any thong panties.
I know, what the hell am I doing in DC without thong panties?!?
Which brings me to the subject of Washington DC, and what I am doing here, and actually the original point of my post.
I originally started this post off with the thought, “I hate to travel alone.”  Which is a true statement, on the surface. All of the goofy things that I think, all the pleasures I embrace, all the little things I find joy in when I travel are muted when I have no one to share them with.
Also, given the choice, I will be a hermit rather than venture out all alone in a strange place. Which is completely counter to how I am when I travel with someone. And even counter to how I feel about traveling, even when I travel alone. But…I get that anxiety/introverted thing going, and the world seems a daunting place to little ole me. Without someone to force me out, I’d hide away in my hotel room.
Sometimes the person that has to force me out is me.  (Discomfort Zone, anyone?) And…most times…I do.  And I am very happy when I do.  Every time I have traveled alone for my job, I have taken the opportunity to go do something I wouldn’t have if I hadn’t gotten to travel to wherever-it-is that I have been sent.  But it ain’t easy. It’s a challenge to myself every time. And a triumph every time I meet that challenge. And I get to email the Guys or tell them all about it when I get back, and it’s great fun.
Still, it’s just not the same as sharing it with them. Seriously, you have to travel with me sometime to get the full “Jade Effect,” as I think Ad called it once. Everything is exciting and new and thrilling and cause for celebration. I have a) no patience for and b) no understanding of people that visit a place and then bitch and moan and complain the whole time. Seriously? That’s the best you can do when given the gift and opportunity to experience something new?
I mean, this was my trip out here (you have to read everything in a tone of utmost excitement, with many exclamation points, and visualize me bouncing from bulletpoint to bulletpoint with hardly a pause for breath – well except maybe to get a coffee.)
Jade’s Travelogue, or “Things I Saw / Wonderful Things That Happened On My Trip to DC”

• Things I love about airports:
  • Moving sidewalks. I just love those. They should have those everywhere. Well, except then people would be even more out of shape… Huh. Dilemma. They are a (relatively) safe way for people to text and “walk” tho.
  • A train INSIDE the Detroit airport. And it was candy-apple red!  (How cool is that?! But no, I didn’t ride on it, I was having to much fun texting Ad while I was on the moving sidewalk.)
  • Unexpected bookshops. Turned the corner and there, tucked into a triangle space, was a bookstore. Love that!
• The airline changed my seat assignment from a middle seat to a window. For no other reason than it was available. I didn’t even ask. They just called out my name on the loudspeaker, I went up to the counter, and they said I could have a window seat if I liked. I love the window seat! Made me very happy.
• My first sight in DC:

• My totally awesome hotel room:

• Driving by a Subway (sandwich franchise) and seeing that they call it “Subway Cafe.” Kind of made me giggle. Maybe they are called that elsewhere, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it.
• Driving by a place called the “Buddha Bar.” Looks like exactly the kind of place I’d love to have a drink, if only to find out why it’s called that.
• All these amazing wonderful buildings!!!!
• A big hairy-bearded guy on a computer at Starbucks this morning that turned to me, after a friend had stopped by his table, and said, “Jerry’s back!” As though I should know who that is.
• Hailed my very first taxi cab!
• Got invited to dine with a friendly bar patron and his two female colleagues. Turned him down, but gladly accepted his printed-out map and business card, and enjoyed talking about running and not-for-profit work with him.
• As soon as he vacated the bar, got chatted up by some young guy from Texas. Enjoyed that for a short while, til he started acting like he wanted to do more than chat me up, and while I am not adverse to doing “more,” didn’t feel comfortable with the prospect of doing that with him.
• Made my escape, and decided to walk around Logan Circle at dusk, looking for a restaurant that the bartender recommended. I never found it, got lost, got cold, got found and came back to have room service.
• Walked to Starubuckies in the rain with a borrowed umbrella this morning. Spent time remembering getting caught in the rain without an umbrella with W, in Ocean City. Wished I was walking in the rain with him again.
• Compared DC to NYC and Baltimore, as Cities-I’d-Potentially-Like-to-Live-In. Again, totally need W around for that convo, but realized halfway through the discussion in my brain that perhaps I should have been a city girl. How’d I end up a country mouse?
• Realizing how much I need the Guys here (W in particular, who would both get what I’m talking about and enjoy it) to do a debrief on my day of work meetings. I know he’d love to hear all about the things I found fascinating, that fired me up and inspired me, that piqued my curiosity or made me say, “This is why I’m here!” And discovering (in the initial icebreaker) that I do have something to contribute to this meeting, when I had thought I was just a fill-in for my boss, who sent me here because she couldn’t make it.
• And lastly, choosing to walk the 15 or so blocks from the conference center back to my hotel after our meeting was over, just because.

So yeah, those are all the reasons I hate to travel alone. I want to share all that! Writing about it just doesn’t have the same punch that living it together does.
And…I do have a hard time being alone, period. Being cut off and disconnected from the Guys, W in particular.  I have the ability to text Ad, so we keep in touch all throughout the day in small ways, sharing tidbits of information, a joke, a picture, an update on what we’re doing. But I’m primarily cut off from W, because I can’t sit and check my email or write emails all day. So that’s why I loved the idea of getting to do Wedge Wednesday while I was here. These small things really do make me feel connected to him. He is in my mind, and (I like to think) I am in his.
So…since I blew that…I decided to do something on my own. Just because.

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