The Council of Wise Women (and Kevin)
So in my last post I know I said that I would "wax poetical" on solo traveling and I honestly intend to do that, but just not in this post. Although it may lend support to my philosophy of solo traveling.
I enjoy the company of my 6 best girlfriends immensely. We range in age from mid-thirties to mid-fifties and we each bring such different perspectives to our friendship. The common bond that brought us all together about 10 years ago was line dancing. This has grown into a great group of 6 women affectionately dubbed (by one friend's husband) "The Council of Wise Women", or as we have shortened it to "The CWW". We do a lot of fun things together besides line dancing, in fact the line dancing componet seems to be fading slightly, but we hit the gym together, do Pilates, go to movies, celebrate birthdays, special milestones, holiday get togethers and just about anything else good friends do together.
A couple of us have traveled together to various conferences to places in the U.S., both near and far, sometimes Orlando, sometimes Vegas. But usually not more then 2 or 3 of us at these events.
A couple summers ago was the first time we planned a trip with all of the "CWW" and a couple husbands tagged along. It was a rafting trip in the upstate of SC. It was for about 4 days and we drove there in 2 cars, well, ok it was a minivan and a truck! :) We had a good time. We spent 2 days rafting with the night between camping, which was the first time I camped (that's a whole other story!) and the 2 nights on either end of the trip in a B&B type place.
I really enjoyed the rafting part of the trip, the camping not so much...it rained most of the 1st day which made for a soggy camp site!
So, all this information leads up to the ride home. While we were chatting about what a great time we had we talked about doing another trip with just all girls. NYC was brought up as a good place. In part because I had grown up near NYC and worked in the city for a little over 2 years before moving to SC and I could be a "tour guide".
OK, cut to summer 2005...our plan to go to NYC got put on the back burner because one friend couldn't afford it and honestly I was having doubts about going because of financial strains. So, we put off the trip. Now in the fall of 2005 we begin talking about going to NYC in 2006 and decide to go in May. Well, as I continue to think about this, plus my trip to Seattle in January and my "big Eastern/Central Europe trip" in Sept. 2006 I am realizing I might not be in a good spot to go. Plus I start thinking about the logistics of 6 women all agreeing on what to do during a 3 or 4 day trip to the Big Apple! And I have been designated the "tour guide", which I was uneasy about because I haven't been to NYC in 11 years! So after much thought and going back and forth with whether or not I should go I decide I am going to back out of the trip. I know this is not a popular choice with the "CWW", but I have to do what I am comfortable with. It's one thing when 6 women go rafting and we don't think about "getting ready" to go anywhere, all we did on the rafting trip was wake up, throw on a bathing suit and shorts and go. A long weekend in NYC is an entirely different scenario! Plus part of me feels that I would "lose control" and not be able to please everyone and having 5 friends ticked off at me because "the tour guide" screwed-up. I would rather bail out now then have a fiasco on my hands in NYC.
OK, so maybe a fiasco wouldn't happened, but I don't want to take that chance. These women are too special to me to ruin friendships over travel confrontations. Is this the right attitude? I know you can't please all the people all the time, but I think I would just be too stressed out worrying about whether or not all my friends were having a good time that I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself.
I know that may sound funny. And I've been away from NYC for a long time, but I always pictured in my mind that my return to NYC would either be by myself or with just maybe one friend. A couple years ago I had such a yearning to return, especially after the events of Sept. 11th, that I almost want to treat my first trip back there as something very special. Hokey as it may sound.
So, I adore my girlfriends, but I will be sitting this group travel adventure out...can't wait to see their pictures! :)
1 comment:
Hey... sounds like you have too much on your mind. A trip with the gang sounds like fun, but maybe you're right about going solo your first trip back. Especially when you visit ground zero - a very emotional experience, even for those of us who never saw it in person in the before condition... Trying to please everyone isn't in the cards for that and yes, it could be a tough time.
However, playing the devil's advocate here, how many times do you think you'll visit NYC in the next five years? Can you think of anyone you'd rather go to such a neat place with? You could always take some breaks from each other during the trip - just plan it ahead that you'll do some things either alone or with one friend and not the whole crew.
You already know what I'd say about any arguments you might have about missing work.
You're gonna have to think about this one some more, kiddo. Sorry!
-kc of the north
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