Life This Week 24/9/2018: The Last Thing I Bought…


The last thing I bought was a new Moleskine notebook.  I have a favourite kind and it’s the classic ruled hardcover version.  There’s a sense of solid comfort and predictability in Moleskine notebooks.   That vanilla beige paper and its feint ruled lines hint at gentler, less hectic times.  I love being able to just put pen to paper to write and draw because I spend practically every other week of the year tapping away at keyboards or screens.

I also have a thing for navy blue at the moment.

I love it when ‘want’ and ‘need’ collide.

The new notebook is for Berlin and I’m leaving for Berlin this Friday.  Once again, those mixed working mother feels are kicking in.

Last week was all about the anticipation of the trip.  The delicious prospect of not one but two solo long haul flights in the lap of high altitude luxury.  With nothing but my thoughts for company and with no one to look out for but myself.  Of being off the grid (unless there’s in-flight wifi on either of my flights) for a couple of days.  Of the excitement in travelling to a country I’ve never visited before and experiencing some if its sights, sounds, tastes and history for the very first time.  Of catching up with an old friend.  Of some good old fashioned ‘me time’.

But as D-Day fast approaches, the jubilation of last week is being supplanted by just the faintest pangs of wistfulness.  I will miss him.  It’s only going to be eight days and I’ll be home with him for half the school holidays but I will miss him.

It will hit the hardest when I get into the taxi for the airport and I just know there’ll be a tear or two on my part when we do that first Berlin to Sydney Facetime.  It won’t be quite as bad but it will still be there when I’m out and about in that new city and see a child who reminds me of him or when I explore someplace I know he would love.

However, he’ll be safe, adored and spoiled at home surrounded by some of his most loved and favourite people.  And I’ll be getting a block of that stuff I long for and countdown to when I’m deep in the trenches at home and in need of a little escape.  So while we will be apart, we will also be getting a little of what we each need.  But plans already afoot for an overseas adventure that we will be taking together next year.


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