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Tag Archive for Brazil

The Travel is Becoming Commonplace-

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Renee Spindle

I did not think this would happen to me, but it seems that Travel Man’s hectic, crazy travel schedule is becoming commonplace for me. Is it because I am more accepting of his crazy schedule? Is it because I have come to expect his travels to be randomly scheduled? Or is it because I am finally able to accept the travel/work schedule as our “normal”? I’ve been asking myself these questions over the past few weeks.

On one hand I feel slightly worried about letting the “normal” become too commonplace for myself. On the other hand it is a good thing for me to be more accepting of the situation, because I am actually able to be relaxed when my husband tells me he’s going to Bangkok, or Brazil, or a rather remote location in Canada.

This is probably a good place to give you all a little back story about Travel Man’s job. I don’t think I have ever explained why he travels so much. My Travel Man is a Field Service Technician for a company called F.R. Drake, based in Virginia. Drake manufactures the machines that orient and load the hot dogs into the packages that we all buy in our local grocery stores. Their machine is a small portion of the entire hot dog/sausage making process, but it is also a very necessary one. When Travel Man is out on assignment he is either installing new equipment for a production line, retrofitting a machine, or fixing a problem with a machine. He works out of our house here in California, but can be dispatched anywhere in the world. His first assignment with Drake, almost two years ago now, took him to South Africa.

Now, back to my story- When Travel Man initially took this position I stressed and worried about him being in so many places, and on back to back assignments. It was particularly stressful for me when he travelled out of the country. What would I do if he got sick, or something happened to him, and I could not get there? I don’t have a passport yet. I’m getting one this year, it’s at the top of my to-do list.

Then something strange happened to me this week. When I took my Travel Man to the airport this past Monday morning I said to myself, “Hey I’m dropping my husband off at work.” I’ve never really thought this to myself before. His mode of commuting to and from work just happens to be an airplane. And it’s not like he owns an airplane or anything, it just happens to be his mode of transportation!

What has been amazing this week is from the moment that I had this revelation a sense of calm came over me that is difficult to describe. I felt less stressed, a teeny-weeny bit less worried (because I’m a worrier by trade), and a whole lot more accepting of this situation. Previous to this week I always knew that this is what my husband needed to do to make a living, but I would always resist and stress at the notion that he had to travel about 80-85% out of the month. Now, I am finally able to accept our “normal”.

My hope with my newly found revelation is that it will allow me to be the most supportive “Road Warrior” wifey that I can be. That I won’t feel so lonely if I’m home by myself a little bit more. It’s quite easy to have a little pity party for yourself when you’re all alone. And most of all that I am able to easily and whole-heartedly let my Travel Man know that he is my hero for what he does, and the way that he works to take care of our family.

4 comments Posted in Travel Man, Travels

When Travel Man is out of the Country

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Renee Spindle

This is the first day of a three-week trip for Travel Man. He is on a work assignment that requires travel to Brazil, and will return long after the Fourth of July. The preparation that went on before this trip was so stressful. He was not originally slated to be dispatched for this job. What this meant was that we had to scramble to get a visa for him to travel yesterday. In the normal course of things this would not normally be an issue, but Travel Man had to get this visa on a “rush” order. He had to take all of his paperwork to the passport/visa service office last Tuesday in order to get the visa by Wednesday of this week at the very latest. He was flying out on Thursday.

On Monday afternoon he calls the visa service office, and is told his passport and visa are scheduled in that afternoon, and he will have to drive to their office to pick it up on Tuesday. We call again on Tuesday morning and are told that the Brazilian consulate has gone on strike this morning. They proceeded to find out if Tom’s passport and visa had cleared through the system before they went on strike. After 3 most stressful hours and numerous phone calls by Travel Man we find out that his passport and visa had been released, and he will have it on Wednesday morning. Remember he is leaving on Thursday morning. The major panic subsides for both of us, and Tom tracks the package via FedEx.

Thankfully his passport and visa arrived early Wednesday morning, so we could breathe a sigh of relief. If it had not cleared on Tuesday before the consulate went on strike there’s no telling when he would have gotten his passport back. This was the most stressful pre-trip preparation that Travel Man has had in a long, long time.

For myself, I have not been this stressed out since Travel Man went to Russia last year. My stress level stays right up there until I hear from him that he has made is to his destination, and has cleared customs without incident. My Travel Man has been all over the world, and had some crazy experiences going from country to country. Maybe one day he’ll find time to blog about it or write a book. For the time being this Domestic Goddess is thankful that her hubby is safe and sound and on the ground.