3. The Vessel: Write about a ship or other vehicle that can take you somewhere different from where you are now.
I will be boarding a plane on Saturday to return me to Australia. Framing travel as a sport has helped alleviate anxiety when something goes wrong with the process.
I often break down travel into definable bits so I can celebrate when something was completed.
- drive to airport
- check-in line
- check-in counter
- TSA
- finding the gate
- waiting at the gate
- boarding
- waiting on plane before it takes off
- flight itself with mini goals of meals
- deplaning
- customs
- baggage pickup
- getting transportation
- travel to end point
If there is a problem with any of these steps, I think about all the success parts already completed and focus on how to solve the existing problem. There is a domino effect with problems because everything that follows is impacted. Thinking about this as a sport, I think strategically and impassionately about possible paths: down but not out, what’s the next play, it’s just a game.
If travel is just a game, we eventually win i.e. arrive where we intend and it hurts less than to be anxious and worried about things I can’t control.
