Locomotion

To kick off my vacation right, A and I had a full day date. I like day dates, they are delighfully unpredictable and mimic the feeling of playing hooky.

After a delicious brunch at Sophie's Cosmic Cafe, we hung out in Gastown to check out the latest Vogs and local boutique shops. Hadn't been to Gastown for years and it proved to be an escape in our own city due to recent, classy gentrification.

We scooted over to see a matinee, Up in the Air. It's been a while since I've been delighted, entertained, moved, contemplative, laughing out loud and fully engaged in a film. Wow - this film is my tops for the year. George Clooney is brilliantly cast as Ryan Bingham, a well-established executive-type, who is retained as an uninvolved, third party whose job is to fire people most typically during massive lay-offs. He flys more than he's 'home', a relative term for Bingham. Home is in the airport, in the sky, and at the hotel. The place he reports 'home' to is a bare apartment that doesn't even have a real key, rather an access card.

I totally get Bingham. I almost regret to admit it, but his solitude while traveling is both comforting and relatable. In addition, his professional role although distanced from those he affects, is very much a cleaner-upper and again, I get that. The distance that comes from being at a distance is real.

My airport system is very controlled, if not a regiment. The away me seeks food, fitness and transportation beat by beat. All told, a stopover is the most disruptive event in my travel head. Never hungry or thirsty, only weighed down by carry-on as needed.

Rare scenes gave me some concern - like the one where he orders the maximum allowable airline or hotel voucher by virtue of entitlement. I do the same - it's not paid out of my pocket, it because of me (my use and requirement of their services) that these options require fulfilling. It's hard to explain, but I get it.

Being a loved wife and mother, and a valued, locomoting worker in my organization are two unrequited beings. Recent experiences on Skype with Birdie - while in my hotel room - give me great delight and sustenance to get through the work trip and scurry on home... yet, the experiences don't align themselves neatly in my head. I think, "I'm working now, in my routine, and hammering down to focus only on that in order to return home fully aware and available. So let's at least be productive." Right?

Watch the flick, you won't believe how authentic and unsexy it is. I highly recommend it.