The personal blog of Justin Ferriman

Traveling to Family

After the holidays, Lorena and I were pretty wiped-out from the travel. We hopped between five different places in just a few weeks, and the added stress of the COVID spike drained us mentally. When we got back to Austin in January, we were content to stay in one place for a while.

Earlier in March we took a short trip to California to look at some homes for sale. That trip was nice for a variety of reasons, but I didn’t sleep too well. Our AirBNB had paper thin walls and floors, and every night the person living below us snored so loud that I had to sleep on the couch in the living room.

So aside from that small trip, we have been in our routine in Austin, and at this point we feel ready to travel again to see family.

The realities of living far away from family.

When we feel the desire to go see family, Lorena and I try to plan our trips so that we can see several people in one go. This often means that we are on the road for extended lengths of time, which in of itself is not so bad, but does often lead to the burnout that we experienced at the end of 2021.

But this is the reality of living far away from family. Instead of short trips, we do extended visits in β€œbatches” numerous times a year.

For this trip, we are headed to Connecticut, Michigan, and Ohio. We then have a short break in Texas before heading to California followed by Mexico.

This family circuit will bring us to early summer, at which point Lorena and I will probably take a moment to catch our breath in Austin before plotting out our next travels. Which, if I’m honest, will be pretty quick since the summers in Texas are absolutely brutal.

#personal