Anticipate Fun

Stacks of books ready to travel with us!

I am packing for vacation today!  Hooray!

Although what I'm actually doing is writing a blog post about packing, when I should be just madly packing, hah!  But I have stacks ready to put in bags, so that's a start, right?

I am a terrible over-preparer and usually pack way too much for one week.  For example, for this one week beach trip, I have packed 7 books for myself, 4 books for my daughter, and an audio book to listen to in the car on the way.  Plus several writing and art projects, and some summer academic prep for my daughter.  That's totally do-able in one week, right? 

I think part of the reason I over-prepare for a trip is that I love anticipating fun.  I love looking forward to the lazy moments, and I relish in the fact that I will get to hang out with my family by the ocean, and stay in my PJs as long as I want, and do nothing but read for hours on end, and see beautiful sights for a whole week. Sometimes I get more happiness from looking forward to a trip than I get while actually on the trip!  Which seems silly, but as a creature of habit and a homebody, it can be stressful to travel, even to a well-loved place.  So, sometimes the anticipation of a fun time can bring just as much joy as the actual event!


What about you, do you find that looking forward to good times can sometimes bring as much happiness as those times in and of themselves?