Back when the last eclipse happened, I looked into the next best opportunity to be under one. That day was today, with the primary candidates being Barcelona and Reykjavik. When we were there a few years ago, on a 10-night cruise around Northern Europe, the intent was always to go back to the places we liked the most, which turned out to be all of them (except for France, but that had more to do with the port than the country). Reykjavik and the people there were amazing, so that was the obvious choice.
Instead, we're home. There was always some question, knowing it was the first week of school, but right about the time we were ready to book flights, I lost my job. Well, I didn't lose it, I know where it went, but I didn't have one. With no understanding about where we would be today, we reluctantly kind of let it go. And to be fair to myself, there has been a lot of change. Diana and I both have different jobs, and Simon is actually finishing his days at his "mainstream" high school. And boy is his auto insurance expensive.
Traveling can be a little stressful with this family, for all of the reasons I've talked about before. I'm not sure how it would have gone without McDonald's in Iceland, because our picky eater would likely not do well in random restaurants. I mean, I'm picky, but any form of chicken will work. It's really hard to mitigate food drama.
Still, when it comes to family travel, we've only got one more summer where Simon is technically in school. For all of the difficulties, that makes me kind of sad. I'm not sure what we'll do, but I don't know if we'll get any big ops like the Europe trip after that. Diana and I certainly look forward to "just us" travel, but I kind of like that we've been able to take him to some pretty spectacular places.
One minor consolation... it turned out to be rainy and cold in Reykjavik at the point of totality. What a bummer for the folks who went there. It still got very dark.
No comments yet.