The Squooshy

For my blog friends who may not know about my travel propensities …I enjoy processing my literal journeys through blogging much the same way I do my figurative journey through life. It’s what I do. I’m a thinker.

#CliftonStrengthsTopFive

#Intellection

I have learned that when I travel that I need time to steal away and ponder. To sit in the quiet. To observe…take in…soak up…feel. And then, of course, write it down.

What I have found is that when I write it down and share it, an unexpected outcome has been that others get to come with me on the journey. And, well, that’s always fun.

So. Away we go…

Days 1-2: Thu & Fri Mar 27-28

The Morales family finds itself off on an adventcha once again—sans the older boy who is out making his way in the world.  This trip is a bit unusual in that it is a group tour and we never (ever ever) take group tours.  If you’ve met Dave Morales you know why this is so.  He’s the family travel agent and travel expert—plus—enneagram 8s and control.  IYKYK.  And we may or may not have already had a family vacation planned for this 2025 when this opportunity came up. 

But as soon as I learned that this trip existed, I started building a case for why it had to happen, what I would sacrifice to make it so, and documenting rebuttals for Dave’s protestations.  I’ve been a fan of Brain Zahnd for some time and thought of the trip as a pilgrimage.  When I learned that my brother and his wife were going, it was a done deal for me. 

Little did I know that Dave actually already wanted to go and needed no convincing. The only curveball became finding a way to take Daniel who had begun to make his own impassioned plea. Then we learned that Emma, my niece, was also coming.  So here we are—all 6 of us—Adventcha Day 1–2 on our way to Istanbul, Türkiye.

Day 1 was a travel day marked with the usual travel exhaustion and bitchiness crankiness triggers (why yes, the nickel psychology words are free).  Of course, mixed with our own exhaustion and triggers, were close-up and intimate views of other travelers who are also exhausted and triggered.  What was new were my attempts at seeing each depleted soul—myself and my family included—through a lens of compassion instead of giving in to the cycle of irritation, people-pleasing, and melt-downs when people twist themselves into the same people-pleasing shapes like I was.   

Hello healing—pull up a chair. Maybe stay for dinner this time? Mind you, these are attempts. Not necessarily successes. Baby steps.

Be Still, Rhonda

I did have a foreboding feeling going into the trip…for some reason. No idea why but it led to a mid-tram panic attack on the way from our connecting flight to the international terminal at Logan. Or maybe it was from all of the hand wringing that led up to the departure.  Either way, the panic attack was unpleasant. That and the ensuing game of “is this (symptom) anxiety or is it my pre-eminent death?” as I thought about boarding a transatlantic flight for the next 2 hours. 

Ultimately, the “cure” came from taking some time with my prayer app to calm myself and connect to the big guy.  The big guy, as it turns out, decided it was a good opportunity to have a sidebar with your girl here about all of my facebook protestations about the state of the world.  And, ultimately, he shushed me. 

I mean.  Listen for yourself: Listen to the 3/27 devotional on the Dwell app.  You will hear them say things like:

• “Hanna prayed so fervently, no sound came out.”
• ”Learn the value of silence”
• ”Silence is born out of awareness of the might and wonder of God; it recalibrates our view of ourselves and the world around us”
• ”No matter how highly we value our opinions or perspective, the Lord sees our tru motive and knows the desires of our hearts”
• ”Wisdom invites us to marvel in silent wonder”
• and then…Hanabakkuk 2:20

Also, I’m pretty sure I heard:

•  “shuddup already, I’ve got this”

But, you know.  In that kind way that ‘leads us to repentence’.  And, also, this led me to laughter.  Because the big guy is funny.  And I could totally hear an insinuation of ‘backseat driver’ in the exchange.  So, all-in, the distraction worked and no more panic attacks.    

Travel day took the Morales family from DC to Boston, Boston to Amsterdam, and Amsterdam to Istanbul (finally).  The Amsterdam airport was interesting—Daniel’s quote of the day: 

• “So when do we go to se the hookers?”
• “Is dad taking us to see the hookers?”

Until the next post my friends.