Presently

To say the last few months have been a whirlwind is an understatement. Moving back across the country plus travel of the holiday, personal and professional nature have my head spinning to the point that some mornings I wake up completely unsure of where exactly I am.

In the last three months, I’ve laid my weary head down at night in no fewer than 11 different cities, from Park City, Utah to Reykjavik, Iceland and so many points in between. That’s a new location roughly every 8 days, if you’re doing the math.

So much travel is a blessing and a curse. I have such an insatiable love for it that I’m loathe to turn down any chance to jump on a plane. And yet, I’m such a self-professed homebody that so much time away, especially when you’re in a brand new apartment in a brand new city, can be exhausting.

My goal through it all has been fairly simple: be present.

Which is, actually, a bit harder than it sounds. How tempting to dream of my own bed when I’m on a business trip in LA for four nights. How easy to beat oneself up for the endless stream of fast food, the total lack of organized physical activity, the extra expense of Uber cars and cabs, all so atypical from my average existence. How easily the guilt of missed plans, missed writing, missed yoga creeps in.

Drinks on Monday? Of course! Oh shit, nevermind – I’m flying to LA that morning. [Actual conversation I had to have last month, I’m such a space cadet right now.]

I realize there are worse realities than the one I’m currently in. So while I’m packing for the next trip and dreaming of the next meal I’ll make myself when I’m home again, I’m also actively grateful for this jet-set(ish) existence, for the experiences and exposure it’s affording me. There’s no point in begrudging myself the life of regular yoga sessions and weekend afternoons writing when that’s just not realistic right now. This is my life at the moment, and I do love it. So I’m best served to do what I can – make good meal choices, pack the clothes I feel good wearing, sleep as soundly as I can in whatever bed I find myself – to make it a life that fulfills.

And one day this summer, if and when this pace changes and my day-to-day becomes more settled, I’ll find the yoga classes and I’ll make the time to write and I’ll unpack the last lingering boxes in my apartment. I’ll live in that space, too. But not a moment before.