In 72 hours, I’ll be on the plane.  Let me just say my emotions have been running very high in the past few days as the reality is truly starting to hit home. So what am I stressing about? Shouldn’t a trip to my home country make me jump with joy?

Firstly, I need to confess that I have effectively succumbed to the Universal forces of a marital life.  As such, the notion of spending a month without my husband feels unpleasant if not unbearable. I know it sounds wimpy but at least I’m honest about it. James is an extraordinary man and deserves a medal for putting up with me.  I tend to break things, he fixes them. I freak out, he calms me down. He makes a mess, I like to clean. So yes, we got used to each other’s company and the last time I travelled alone to Czech for three weeks, I hated it for not being able to share it with him.

In addition to this emotional baggage (a new term for marriage?) that I have created for myself, there are other reasons why this trip is causing me anxiety. They are mainly related to the practicalities of my interviews such as finding appropriate locations, negotiating suitable times and finding my way around on public transport with frozen nose and ears.

So yes, in 72 hours, I’ll be sitting next to some stranger on the plane. In all my preparations so far, I realize I have not yet ’czeched’ where my passport is. You see, that’s something James would have normally done…