My brother and I are planning a trip in the fall. For several years we have taken an excursion, usually in the fall, to various destinations. Two years ago he gave me one of the most intriguing challenges of my life. He said, "I'm ready to take a trip with you. Only I don't want to know where we're going or what we're going to be doing. I want you to plan the whole trip. You just tell me where to show up and I'll meet you there." He then gave me the amount of money he was willing to spend, pointed to a map of the United States and cut me loose.
At first I liked the idea. I thought it would be great fun to put together such a trip for the two of us. I wouldn't even need any of his input! I could plan to my heart's content. However, very early in the process, I realized that I had a huge problem. On a trip, any trip, I'm a "go with the flow" type of person - a team player. I tend to yield to the wishes of the group (of two or more). So now at every turn while planning this dream trip for my brother, I couldn't run any ideas by him. The deeper into the planning, the more pronounced this problem became for me. Hundreds of times I just needed to know his preferences on a few simple things.
But I kept the faith and pressed toward the mark. I knew from the beginning that the trip would involve the north rim of the Grand Canyon. He and I had explored the south rim on a previous trip and both of us wanted to see the north rim. But with the amount of time and money he gave me to spend, I knew we could see much more than the Grand Canyon.
After weeks of planning, after considering and scrapping several different destinations, the trip included exploring the Grand Canyon, Zion Canyon and Bryce Canyon. And because we flew in and out of there, the trip included a night in Las Vegas. Really, that's the only reason we stayed there!
Since I am directionally challenged, I put several redundant systems in place for getting around. AAA sent me spiral bound Trip-tic maps that included turn-by-turn directions to and from each waypoint. They also provided road maps of Nevada, Utah and Arizona. To top it off they sent me sight-seeing guides for each of the three states. We would also have a GPS but I read not to put all our trust in a GPS. I even read a story of a woman traveling alone in Arizona whose GPS led her astray. She ran out of gas, out of water and died. I didn't want either of us to die on a trip that I had planned. But not to worry. I had professionally bound driving directions and state maps. We were in great shape.
After about eight months of planning the week of the trip finally arrived. I was excited but I I kept feeling like I had forgotten something. I checked the confirmation on all the lodging. I checked all the boarding passes. I checked the reservations for various activities I had planned. I did all this several times that week. The night before the trip I decided that we were good to go. My brother spent the night at our house, and at 4:00 am the next morning, we boarded a shuttle van and headed to the Atlanta airport. I still couldn't shake a very uneasy feeling.
About twenty miles down the road in a powerful flash of realization, I saw a stack of things on my den bookshelf. The stack included our AAA Trip-tics and the state maps. No doubt about it, I had left all of it at home. If we had been in our car we could have turned around, but we were in a van full of other people who had places to go and people to see. They all had planes to catch in Atlanta. I sat in a silent stupor for a few minutes and then said, "Uh, we've got a problem." "Yeah, what's that?" "I left all the maps at the house." (pause) "Tell me you're kidding." "No, I'm not kidding. I left everything at the house." (longer pause) "What are we going to do?" "Just give me a minute."
I sat perfectly still with a sharp dread crawling up my spine. I saw our rental car on the side of the road and our water supply dwindling to the last few drops. "Here you take it." "No you take it" "Well, ok.". So I just sat and wondered what to do.
The further down the road we traveled, the more dread I felt. I had no idea what we were going to do. Having the maps overnighted wasn't an option because that day we would be driving from Nevada, through Utah to Arizona.Then with the same flash of insight that told me I had forgotten the maps, it occurred to me what to do. "My wife can email those directions to me and then of course we can buy maps." Blood started flowing through my heart again and I felt a renewed sense of excitement for the trip.
And my wife did just that. She typed every single turn around three canyons in three states into an email and sent it to me. We found maps in the Las Vegas airport. The trip was on!
Covering several hundred miles in twelve days we never missed a turn. We never ran out of gas. We never ran out of water. And we never died. And that's a good thing.
We are headed west again in the fall on a bird watching excursion to the coastal cities of the great state of Texas. Since my brother chose the destination, I asked him to plan the trip. He said, "I'd rather you plan it." "Ok, I'll be glad to-- with your help."
I don't have all the details in place, but the trip is taking shape. This year I may forget my underwear and my credit cards, but I'll have the maps.
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