Travelin' solo and all that implies

     On Thursday, I hit the road all by myself for a 16-day working vacation to New Mexico, or as I prefer to call it:  Eat. Play. Spa. (Except there really will be work involved.)  While I have two sets of gal pals joining me for parts of my stay, I'll be going solo for a good percentage of the time.
     This is a significant life event because a) while I've traveled alone on business, those trips averaged about 3 days each; and b) I've relied on my husband for most of the navigational and organizational details on every vacation for the last 32 years. To ensure a successful journey, I am borrowing a page from the hub's book. Actually, I'm borrowing the whole book....otherwise known as "the binder":

The images on the cover were my idea. It's a girl thing. His binder is always sans art.

The binder contains my itineraries (two versions - complete and condensed), hotel confirmation numbers, mapped routes and written directions of every anticipated journey, large and small, and other documents (like photo releases) necessary for the work portion of my trip. Did I mention every page has been three-hole punched by moi? There are even blank, three-hole punched pages in the back.

Oh, I'm organized, alright. I'm even packing my shoes in a laundry basket so I can use the basket at the Spin and Sparkle laundromat in Taos before the second leg of my trip. There's actually a map that shows the route from the Santa Fe Trader Joe's to the Spin and Sparkle in Taos. I'm leaving nothing to chance, people!

Heck, I may even throw a humidifier in there. Because, why not?

Of course, the fact that the hubs won't be there to schlep luggage should (I said should) motivate me to pack light. But, the beauty of a road trip is being able to take everything if you want to. 

   Here's what one of my traveling companions wrote about our impeding adventure. I hope she knows how to read a map.