Karissa asked me when she should start packing for our trip. The funny thing is, I still have absolutely no idea what the answer to that question is. Alexis, on the other hand, is already halfway packed. She has always been much more organized than the rest of us. As for me, I’m only slightly more organized than Karissa when it comes to packing. So maybe my answer to Karissa should simply be, “When I start packing, I’ll let you know, and then you can start packing too.”

The problem is that I still don’t know when I’m going to start packing. At some point, I’m going to have to sit down, look at the calendar, realize exactly how many days are left until we leave, and have a small, completely reasonable panic attack. That’s usually how these things go.

Tommy has already bought several things we’ll need for the trip. I think he’s more organized than I am, not just with travel, but in general. His thoughts seem neatly filed away, while mine often feel like someone dumped an entire filing cabinet onto the floor. That’s one of the reasons I write everything down. Writing helps me gather all those scattered thoughts and put them back where they belong. It’s my way of un-shambling my mind.

The trip is coming up fast. I definitely don’t feel as prepared as Alexis does, and somehow I’m managing to worry more than Karissa. That’s an interesting combination. Still, I know we’ll pull everything together before it’s time to leave. We always do.

My schedule unexpectedly opened up today, which means I have extra time to study. I was supposed to have my medication management appointment this morning, but my psychiatrist is sick, so the appointment needs to be rescheduled. Honestly, that’s okay. My lab work isn’t until next Wednesday anyway, so it probably makes more sense to schedule the appointment for a day or two after those results come in. Of course, we leave for our trip shortly after that, so I’ll have to find a time that works.

Without even looking at the calendar, my rough calculations tell me I probably have about a week left to get everything ready and packed. That’s enough time…right? Okay. I can do this. I won’t panic.

Well…

Maybe I’ll panic just a little.

As excited as I am for this trip, that excitement makes it harder to stay focused on studying. My brain keeps wandering off to vacation mode instead of Security+ mode. Maybe the best thing I can do is pull out my planner. If I spend some time setting it up for the weeks we’ll be traveling, Future Me will appreciate it. I’ll already have the pages ready to go, and I can simply fill them in as we travel instead of trying to organize everything on the fly.

That actually sounds like a productive compromise. I can channel some of this trip excitement into planning while still keeping myself organized enough to stay on track with studying. Maybe that’s exactly what I need today.

I filled out my planner and organized it a few weeks in advance. That way, when I leave for my trip, most of the setup and planning is already done, and I’ll only need to fill in any updates or new information as they come up. Having everything prepared ahead of time gives me one less thing to worry about and helps me stay organized.

For the past few hours, I’ve been quizzing myself on cybersecurity concepts to reinforce what I’ve been learning. After finishing my review questions, I switched over to reading my cybersecurity book to continue building my understanding of the material. Overall, my studying is going well, and I feel like I’m making steady progress. The only challenge I’ve been running into is maintaining my focus for long periods. I find my attention drifting from time to time, so I’m working on staying engaged and minimizing distractions. Speaking of distractions, the kids are bored. I know they are bored because they just come in to say hi. No actual reason for coming into the office. Just to say hi. That tells me they are bored.

Of course, I’m welcoming any distractions since I’m having trouble focusing. I think I’m going to read The High King. I need to finish this book before our trip. I want to finish before our trip. Kel is home. She had a day off today. She took her dad to his doctor’s appointment and is now home. Tommy will be home later.

After our time at Disney World, we’ll be heading out on a four-day cruise to the Bahamas. One thing that will make this part of the trip different is that I’ll be completely without internet access. That feels a little strange to think about because I’m so used to always being connected. These days, I can pick up my phone and, within seconds, I’m connected to the outside world. Whether it’s checking messages, looking something up, or sharing a photo, the internet is always there.

Even though it will probably feel unusual at first, I have a feeling I’ll be so busy enjoying the cruise that I won’t even notice I’m offline. Instead of scrolling through my phone, I’ll be exploring the ship, relaxing, enjoying the beautiful ocean views, and being at the beach. Sometimes it’s nice to unplug for a while and simply enjoy the moment without distractions.

I’ll be taking lots of pictures throughout the cruise, and once I have internet access again, I’ll upload them to Instagram and Facebook so everyone can see how the trip went. When I get back home, I’ll also write about the rest of my vacation here and share more details about everything we experienced.

I’m not sure how much free time I’ll have to write while we’re at Disney World. However, if I do find a little downtime, I’ll be sure to post an update before we leave for the cruise.